The Tiger's Leopard
by Plaguemoose
Summary: Victor never imagined that he would find a mate, especially one like Ria. She ran from a lab and straight into his territory, and he plans on keeping her all to himself...so long as they can both stay alive. Victor/OC, rated M for language, violence, and sex. (cover image by Brookie Twiling!)
1. Castle

It was a nice enough day, honestly. The sun was shining, there was a nice breeze, it wasn't too hot out-Victor couldn't complain. The Canadian spring was finally coming around after so many months of icy winter, and while he knew it wouldn't likely change much, the animal inside him was excited. Spring always meant something new, didn't it? Spring was time for growth, for life, and where there was life, there was the ability to destroy it. That's what he was always the happiest about.

He was starting the morning off with some hunting. The fridge was empty, and after all, he had some energy he needed to get rid of. He knew every inch of his property, his _territory,_ and a few days prior he had spotted a few deer not too far from his cabin. So he set out after them today, creeping through the trees as quietly as possible, something he was surprisingly good at considering his size. He was massive by human standards, and still large even among ferals. It was something he prided himself on, all of that solid muscle, and luckily, it was pretty easy to maintain in his line of work. "Private contracting" had its perks.

Doing his best to stay downwind of his prey, he growled softly to himself when his nose picked up something other than the usual smells of the forest. Deer, soil, trees, that pesky bear that liked to poke around now and again...and something new. Something...sweet. As he opened his mouth slightly to draw in more of the scent, it flooded his senses, a fruity, almost cold smell that certainly wasn't something he had ever experienced before, much less here, in the middle of the wild. What the fuck was it?

The deer would have to wait.

He changed direction, heading towards whatever it was that he had noticed. Leaves leftover from the fall crunched quietly under his weight, a sound he wasn't too fond of. He wished he could be completely silent, and even though he almost always had the drop on his victims, it wasn't good enough if other ferals could hear him. Hell, even Jimmy could hear him, and if he couldn't even sneak up on the runt, that was saying something.

He reached the edge of a tiny clearing and stopped to sniff the air. The scent was strong, but there was no one for it to be coming from. Frustrated, Victor took a few steps around, making a small circle as he looked into the trees. This wasn't right. Calming himself, he sniffed again, inhaling deeply, filling his nose with the cool morning air. Soil, trees, that sweet fruit, and...yet another new smell, one that he wasn't too fond of. It was something he was trying to take a break from: the military.

"The hell are you doin' here?" he asked out loud as he clawed his way up into the low branches of a tree and made his way along to the next, and the next, until the scent grew stronger and he began picking up the sounds of a struggle.

Oh, it was about damn time.

He felt his claws lengthen slightly as he climbed, forced to stay low due to his weight. He was itching for a fight, and he didn't care who it was with. When he pushed his way through some branches and finally saw who he had been pursuing, though, he had to admit that he was surprised.

"Grab it!" a man in uniform yelled, reaching for his gun. He had three companions, all dressed in black fatigues, and they were all clustered around something that clearly didn't enjoy their company.

A low growl rose in Victor's throat, low enough that the men couldn't hear it, not that they seemed particularly observant. These were the kind of guys who worked in the labs, transporting things and catching them so that they could be locked up. And the thing that they were struggling to get under control, well...he guessed that it wasn't going willingly.

While the men had yet to notice Victor up there just meters above their heads, that thing in the middle of them did. It stopped flailing for a second and glanced up at the sound of the noise he had made, and that moment was all he needed to see that it was definitely a person, and definitely a mutant. Now that he saw what his nose had been leading him to this entire time, he could grab other details out of the scent, too; fruit, a crisp cold, exhaustion, fear...

Feral.

He was ashamed of the way he hesitated, but he couldn't stop staring as she snapped back and raked a clawed hand across a soldier's face. She was a swirl of white and gray, black spots dotting her skin as she lashed out at the men as they tried to subdue her. It wasn't until a shot rang out and she fell still that Victor managed to move again, and oh, did he move.

With a bellowing roar, he leapt from the tree, landing on one man and grabbing another, who received a blow to the head that left him lying in the dirt. A few bullets pierced his chest, but he didn't slow down as he moved towards the remaining two and snapped their necks one by one. It was boring and quick, but he had other things occupying his mind right now.

Red was seeping out of the feral, but she pushed herself up out of the dirt and rose onto shaky legs, stumbling a few feet away from Victor as she clutched her side. She was dressed in grimy rags, blood staining them in more than a few places. It seemed like they were barely clinging to her, and it was apparent that she had lost weight since they had first been placed on her. The sight of so many bones poking out made him snarl, and he didn't know why. Maybe it was just because she was clearly underfed by whoever was keeping her.

Her hair was a matted gray mess, filled with leaves and twigs that suggested she had been running from those men for quite some time without any chances to stop and clean herself up. She was shaking slightly as she bared her teeth at him, fangs longer than his own glistening. They were the only threatening thing about her as she stood there, wobbling on her unsteady feet, about to collapse at any moment. She dared to still challenge him, even when she was clearly only a few days from starvation? Frail had guts.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice hoarse, like she hadn't had water in a few days. It was almost painful to hear.

Victor took a few steps toward her. A feral, a _female_ feral. He could smell her fear. He knew how she was perceiving him, and it was just how he wanted-big, dominant alpha male. Healthy. Strong. Bloodthirsty. He flexed his hands, claws sliding out a bit more. The beast inside of him was desperate to make an impression on her, and it had to be a good one.

"Who're you, frail?" he asked, his voice a deep rumble.

She blinked as if she didn't know the answer. "I-I asked first."

He smirked to himself. Still trying to act tough? Cute. He'd give it to her this time. "Victor. Now tell me yours."

She was silent for a moment. Was she seriously trying to figure it out? "Ria." she said finally. "Ria."

Victor was pleased that he had managed to get it out of her. He was pleased that he was managing to do anything with her scent hanging in the air, honestly. "Well then, Ria, mind tellin' me if you've got anymore friends comin' after you? I'd like ta know who's knockin' at my door."

Whatever tiny amount of color that had been in her face drained as she realized that she was most definitely trespassing. "I don't think so. Not until they realize I was never delivered."

Victor frowned slightly. Oh, he definitely didn't like where this was going. "Let's get inside. You can tell me everythin' once you've got some food in you."

She was a bit shocked, to say the least, as he led her away from the bodies of what used to be her handlers. He only left her side once during the trip to his house, when he forced her to stay in an abandoned fox hole while he grabbed one of the deer he had meant to before she and her little party distracted him. It gave her a chance to think, but honestly, all the thinking in the world couldn't help her figure out what he wanted to do with her.

He had to have another motive. Male ferals didn't just help females. Okay, so she hadn't met very many, and she hadn't ever thought that she was going to meet more. She really didn't think she was going to be seeing the light of day again, though, so that in itself was a pleasant surprise. Despite not having met many, though, she did know a few things about male ferals, and a lot of them weren't very positive. They were relentless, and they always wanted to take what wasn't theirs. Always looking for mates, always starting fights...they were just generally hard to deal with, if her memory was serving her well.

She had never met one as giant as Victor, though.

And none of them had ever smelled as nice as he did.

She snarled at herself. This was stupid! She wanted to get out of there, to run into the trees and figure shit out for herself. She had to get away and be alone to lick her wounds, find out where she was, and get some food.

Well, Victor was getting the food for her, wasn't he? There wasn't any point in wasting energy. She didn't have much to spare. Hell, she could barely even walk straight, let alone run or climb or do literally anything else. She had to face it: she was useless, desperately in need of a bath and some sleep, and a little bit lonely.

"You can come out, darlin'." She heard Victor's slight drawl from outside and poked her head out. He was standing in front of the hollow with a large deer slung over his shoulder, the scent of food occupying most of the space around him.

Ria began salivating as she crept out of the hole, stumbling and stubbing her toes as she made her way over to him. Her inner beast had wanted to make some sort of impression too, but it was looking like it was a negative one now.

 _He must think I'm utterly fucking useless._ She thought bitterly as they began walking.

Victor watched her from the corner of his eye. He was surprised that she had managed to stay upright this long. He was in the process of counting her ribs when she noticed him looking at her and her yellow eyes struck his, some sort of distant rage burning behind the broken surface. What the fuck had happened to her?

He dropped the deer down outside and wrenched the door open for Ria, grunting and nodding towards the wash basin before awkwardly stepping out again to string up and gut their dinner. He honestly didn't know what to do with this girl...he didn't feel the need to kill her or do anything even mildly unspeakable. Well, okay, maybe a little bit, but it would be so much more fun if she agreed.

But really, fucking wasn't at the front of his mind. Neither was violence, for once. The sabertooth inside of him was angry, like always, but not at this girl, and killing the soldiers had sedated it slightly for the time being, so it was focused on the task at hand...even though her scent was making it difficult.

He had never met a female of his kind, and it was making something bubble up inside of him. He kept glancing over his shoulder as if he could see through the walls and keep an eye on her, and the fact that he couldn't tell exactly what she was doing was agitating him. This frail was going to ruin him.

Ria managed to take a freezing bath while Victor was outside. She wanted to pretend that she thought the cold water was bracing or something, but honestly, it was because she didn't know that she could just heat it up on the stove and avoid shivering her tits off while she scrubbed at her skin until it was raw. She tore through her tangled hair, scrubbing at it, too, until the water she was sitting in was dark with dirt.

She wrinkled her nose at it and decided that it was probably healthier to get out and began searching for something to wrap up in. Finding a towel, she huddled up in it, drying off as quickly as she could. As she did so, the mirror on the wall caught her attention, and for the first time in what was probably years, she got to see her own reflection, and it took her a while to remember who she was looking at. Was that really her? She was so...sickly. So fragile. Her face was sunken and her head seemed entirely too big for the rest of her, what with there being absolutely no meat on her bones.

 _There's no way he'll want you now._

She frowned at herself. That was...a really stupid thought to have. What did she care if he liked her or not? Sure, he was the first mutant she'd seen in forever, and he was big and strong, and definitely probably pretty good looking, and was feeding her and keeping her safe for now, but that didn't mean anything. Her body was just reacting to the fact that there was another feral around, and she didn't appreciate it very much.

Besides, he was dangerous. He could kill her so easily, even when she was healthy. Maybe he was planning on it. Maybe this was her last meal. If that was the case, then she should enjoy it, right?

She heard the door open and froze. She had nothing to wear, and she didn't want him to see her like this, so weak and fragile, bones sticking out everywhere. Her skin was clean, at least.

Victor stomped in, carrying meat from the deer and putting it in the fridge before turning to look for Ria. He spotted her swimming in a towel and would have worn a smug grin if she didn't look so hopeless. It was painful, seeing a fellow feral like this. Especially a female. Especially...his female?

She was in his territory. She was his. He began smiling to himself as realization swept over him and the animal figured out that if he wanted, he could have her whenever the mood grabbed him. After all, nobody was going to dare challenge him for her. They would be pretty fucking stupid if they tried. He wanted her to be accepting, though, which meant winning her over. He needed her to like him.

All ulterior motives aside, though, he was seriously not liking how malnourished she was.

"Uh...come on. Get in here." he motioned for her to come to the tiny kitchen and started by grabbing her a cup of water. She took it and drank greedily, handing it back to him expectantly. He got her more and she did the same thing.

"O-kay, don't wanna get water gut." he warned as she gulped it down again.

She swallowed. "Sorry."

He smirked. Yes, apologize. He was the alpha here.

Her submission didn't last long, though. "Food. Now."

Victor growled in irritation. "You'll eat when I decide."

Ria raised an eyebrow. "Or I could just reach in and grab some for myself."

His growl raised in warning. "Don't test me, frail."

But that's exactly what she wanted to do. "So get me some fucking food, Victor."

Shit, he liked hearing her say his name. He leaned toward her as he reached for the fridge. "Say my name again."

Ria looked up at him with those big amber eyes. "Victor...please."

Her voice was as sweet as her scent was. "That's better."

When she was stronger, she would challenge him more. None of this backing down. As she took a slab of meat from him and sank her fangs into it, she noticed that she was lacking in the fear department. Maybe she just had bigger things to worry about. After all, if he was feeding her and keeping her warm, she could be his mate. No problem. It was little in return for never going back to that _place._

Besides, he was...attractive.

"I'm tired." she announced when she finished. Victor realized he had been watching her eat the entire time and shook himself lightly.

"Fine. Bed's over there." he nodded toward the fur-covered cot and watched as she tested it and let her towel slip away, her naked form stretching out on the skins as if she had never felt anything so soft. He heard her purr quietly and his breath hitched. He really should find her a shirt or something, to at least keep her warm...but she didn't seem too concerned about it. Her breathing evened out within minutes, and before he knew what he was doing, Victor joined her.

He pulled her close to his chest and began checking her over as she slept. He ran his claws over her skin, searching for scars, bruises, anything to tell him where she had come from. Her healing factor must have been slow, because a chunk of skin was still missing from their little exchange with the soldiers earlier, but hopefully it would pick up when she finally began eating real food and getting real sleep. She was pale, her front an even light color, but across her back and up her neck were tattoos, a spotty leopard print spreading over her.

He chuckled to himself. A leopard, huh? She should be fun, then. Oh, the things he would make her do...as his fingers traveled further down, he frowned. The skin on her belly wasn't as smooth as the rest, and he felt ugly bumps criss crossing over it. Big brutish scars stretched across her lower stomach, definitely made by blades. He snarled, louder than he had meant to, at the thought of those white coats slicing her open. What the fuck had they done to her?

Victor was fuming. How dare they touch her? She was _his._ Nobody was allowed to touch her but _him._

His snarl woke her for a moment, but after an initial jerk and a fluttering of eyelids, she fell back asleep, snuggling up against him with a sigh. Unsure of what to do, he lowered his head down next to hers, pressing his face into her hair and surrounding himself with her beautiful scent. The fear from before was gone, leaving only contentment.

She seemed happy, and that made him happy.


	2. Flaws

"Time to fess up, frail." Victor said, still sleepy. "Where're you from?"

Sunlight poured in through the windows, hitting Ria's face and forcing her to squeeze her already barely open eyes shut. "I'll tell you in...ten minutes…."

"You'll tell me now." he was getting irritated. "Look at me when I'm talking to you."

She rolled her eyes behind her eyelids and looked at him. "Happy?"

Yes. "Answer me."

She sighed and sat up slightly, hugging her knees to her chest. "I don't know how long I was there...years?" She thought for a moment. "Hard to tell when there's no sky."

"Were you in a lab?"

She nodded. "It was dark most of the time, except for the operating room. Those lights were bright."

Victor frowned. "What'd they do, frail?"

"I slept in a cage. At first it wasn't so bad, and I thought I had a chance at breaking out, because it didn't seem like they were going to do anything other than keep me there, but…" She paused to clear her throat. "They started slicing me up."

"Why?"

This part seemed harder for her. "First they just looked at me. I stayed awake for that one. I watched them cut me open. Right here." She put a hand on one of her scars. "They just poked around. Looked at my insides. Made a few notes and then put me away to heal." Back when she could heal. "But I guess...I guess there's not too many like me left, huh?"

He blinked. "Ferals?"

She nodded a couple times. "Females, though. They were excited when they saw my insides and they brought me back a second time. There were more people there, in different clothes than the white coats. They watched while they cut me open again, and I stayed awake for the second time, and I listened to what they wanted to do to me, and I tried to get away…" She shook her head. "I had to get away. It wasn't right. I didn't want it, I didn't want to be _used_ like that, but I couldn't...I couldn't leave. They tried to put me under but it didn't work, and I just had to lay there, half asleep and half awake, watching while they put shit straight inside me and expected my body to just heal around it and accept it."

Victor furrowed his brow. "Shit?"

A tear rolled down her cheek and she hurried to wipe it away. "They tried to make me make babies for them."

A growl rose in Victor's chest and he began growing agitated. He _had_ to protect his female now, knowing that they wanted her for _that._ Nobody but him was going to get to touch her anymore, especially not in ways that would make cubs.

"They died. My body said no, because it wasn't right. They weren't made with a mate, and I wasn't healthy anyway, wasn't in a place safe to have babies. So they tried again, and again, and every time the same thing happened...so they decided they had to try it the right way, and put me in a box to send to another place where they have a male."

A massive snarl ripped through Victor and Ria jumped slightly. His lips rose in a sneer, exposing his fangs as he leaned over her. He couldn't smell another male on her, which meant that it was either a long time ago or it hadn't happened. He was hoping for the second one.

"Th-that's where they were taking me before I got away a few days ago. I ran, and they followed, and now I'm here." She looked up and met his eyes. "I didn't realize I was in your territory."

His snarl had faded into a quiet growl, his agitation still present. "The only thing you did by trespassin' was make yourself mine."

She sighed for the second time so far that day. "I know."

He paused in surprise. She wasn't fighting it? He had expected some sort of resistance, but she was giving him nothing. "Good."

Sensing his confusion, she shrugged. "I've lived through worse than whatever you can throw at me. Whatever that male would have done would have been in a lab, or some gross cell, or a cage...at least with you there's a bed and real food." She chewed her lip. "At least you could protect them."

His eyes widened a fraction of an inch and his ego swelled. She was damn right he could. He was confused again, though; she didn't smell like her body was looking to have Cubs, and she definitely wasn't in heat. She was too weak for anything like that to kick in. Why was she thinking so much about breeding, then? Just because it had been forced on her…?

Victor's animalistic side wanted cubs, but that was just because that's what mates did. Not much could happen until her heat, though, so all he could do was think and hope for the moment. He was a male and she was a female, so it was going to happen sooner or later.

"All I ask is that you wait." She said quietly. "Until I'm healthy again."

He smirked. "Darlin', nothin's gonna work until you're in heat anyways."

She seemed surprised, like she hadn't even thought of that. "Right." She laughed nervously. "It's been so long since I had a real one…"

He barked a laugh. "That's 'cause I wasn't around."

Her face reddened as much as it could. "I should be running from you, you know."

"Like to see you try." He growled, leaning further over her with a giant hand on either side of her head.

She appeared calm, but he could hear her heart hammering away. _That's right._ He thought. _You should be scared._

He had done awful things, horrible things, because of that animal inside him. It was never satisfied, especially when it came to women. He had never had a feral, though, and he had never had a mate. Jimmy had, lots of times, because he was good with women and good with love, but Victor...he had no idea how it was supposed to work. He had no idea how to be gentle, especially with something as tiny as Ria. As he loomed over her, pinning her body down with only a tiny amount of his weight for fear of breaking her, he realized how small she actually was. So weak. So easily snapped in half.

He noticed a small growl beneath him and saw her staring up at him, those long fangs bared. A challenge? She couldn't be serious. "Frail, don't even try."

She hissed weakly, refusing to back down. "Get off."

He pressed more weight against her. "I'm in charge here."

She didn't like that.

In a flash, and with every ounce of energy she had, she shot up and snapped at his face, intent on ripping that smug grin right off. He leaned back, but not before she had managed to graze the tip of his nose with one of those fangs.

Victor snarled in her face, grabbing both of her wrists and holding them down as it grew into a roar. That had just pissed him off.

She fell still, absolutely frozen as he showed her his fangs and dug his claws into her hands. At least she knew that she was faster than him now. His size made him slow and all of that muscle probably made him stiff, and if she was going to get any kind of leg up on him, it looked like it was going to be through speed and flexibility.

"Don't." He growled.

She hissed again, even quieter than before. He was glad to see that she was fiery, even if it was going to be annoying. It justified his displays of power, though, and he wanted to show her how strong he was. He liked showing off.

With a big sigh, Ria gave up, tension leaving her muscles as she averted her eyes to the side. Victor was pleased and let her wrists go, flopping down next to her again, his weight making the cot shudder.

"...you're going to break this."

He snorted. "Been sleepin' on it for years, frail. It's fine."

She looked at him pointedly, scooting a bit closer. "I'm not talking about sleeping."

His breath caught in his chest. Maybe she was right. "...we don't hafta use the bed."

She smiled slightly. "It's been a long time since I had any fun."

Victor perked up at that. She was so _willing._ He felt his body respond and he had to stop himself from pushing her down and fucking her right then and there. But no, he wanted to save it; she was his mate, and he didn't want to break her. He would wait until she had some meat back on her and he could actually enjoy it.

Ria closed her eyes and laid her head on his bare chest. "I used to have _lots_ of fun."

She was out to kill him, he decided as his jeans tightened. "You're temptin' me, frail…"

Her smile widened. "I was a dancer during the Great War. _Lots_ of soldiers came to the club."

"I was a soldier."

She laughed. It was a nice sound. "What are you now?"

"Whatever I wanna be. Hitman, I s'pose."

A small shiver ran through her. "Sounds dangerous."

He grinned. "It is."

"Do you ever get afraid?"

"Ain't afraid'a anything, darlin'. Fear ain't in my vocabulary."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"Nope."

"Humph." She nestled against him. "Me neither."

He snorted. "Sure, frail."

She wrinkled her nose. "Why do you keep saying that?"

"What, do you have somethin' better?"

"Anything."

He thought for a second. "I'll work on it."

Rolling onto her back, she looked up at him. "Mind working on getting me some food in the meantime?"

He growled in annoyance. She sure was demanding. But she was his, and he liked to take care of his things. "Only if you keep talkin' while I work."

"About what?" She asked as he got up and walked to the kitchen.

"Anythin'. You."

"What about me?"

 _Everything._ "What d'ya like?"

 _You,_ she almost said. "I dunno. This, I guess."

He glanced over at her as he grabbed a venison steak. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." She ran her fingers over the pelt. "I guess I got used to a cage."

Victor snarled at that and she jumped for the second time. "Ya ain't gonna be in a cage ever again."

She liked it when he got like this. "How do you know?"

"I ain't lettin' it happen." He decided gruffly.

He walked back over to her after rinsing the meat off and held it out to her. She snatched it from him, tearing into it as if he wasn't going to feed her ever again.

"Frail, you don't hafta eat so fast." He chuckled.

She looked up and growled at him, her dark eyes even blacker. His nostrils flared angrily. Trying to keep him away from her food, was she? It wasn't going to work. It didn't matter that he had given it to her. If he wanted to grab it back, then he sure as hell was going to.

When he snarled in response at her ungratefulness, she made one last little noise and sulked as she finished her meal. She was quiet for a long while after that, licking her lips and fingers and curling back up on the bed for a nap.

Victor sighed as he watched her and eventually got himself some food, always keeping her in the corner of his eye. Now that he knew the monsters that were probably following her, he was never going to let her out of his sight. Ever. She was too precious to him.

As he sat and thought after he ate, he tried to remember everything he knew about his own kind. He had heard once that everybody had a soulmate, but he hadn't really believed it until Ria showed up. She calmed him, something that nobody but the runt had ever managed to do. She was special, and the effect she had on him was so…strange. He almost felt intoxicated when he breathed in her scent, and it seemed like his attraction to her was growing with each passing moment.

It was because the animal in him was growing comfortable, and it knew that they were in a safe enough place to have a mate. All that beast had to do now was wait for her heat and it would do what it was biologically programmed to do-fuck her and then protect her while she carried his young, and then do it again and again. How long was it going to take before it started, though? Her body was going to wait until it was healthy enough, and that could be weeks. Months, even. Could he stand to wait that long?

He would have to control himself for her when it did eventually happen. She was so small, and he was so strong. He had broken human frails before, and he didn't want to break this feral. _His_ feral.

His mate.

The thought excited him. He had a mate. He had something that couldn't refuse him. Glancing over at her naked, sleeping form, he frowned to himself. He had to mark her. The world needed to know that she belonged to Victor Creed. Where would he do it, though? It was hard to decide, with her looking so...well, frail. Maybe he would wait until she filled out more.

A low growl rumbled in his chest. If he ever found the lab coats that did this to her...well, he'd make sure they saw their own organs before they died. He'd tear them out and then bring their still beating hearts back to Ria as trophies to show her that she was safe with him, and how strong he was. Even though she was already so okay with being his mate, he couldn't overcome to urge to need to impress her, to prove himself.

He didn't want to leave her alone, but he needed to go move those bodies he had left the day before before anyone found them. So he slipped away, making sure to grab her a blanket before leaving with a shovel and heading into the trees as quickly as he could, running towards the scent of old blood until he found the source. A few scavengers had already found them, which was a good sign. They were all coming out now that spring was finally here, and for once, Victor was thankful for the pests.

Dismemberment seemed like the easiest way to speed up the decomposition process, and he really wasn't interested in eating them or dragging them back to the cabin, so he just…tore them apart. He sliced them to ribbons, letting the sabertooth bathe in their blood, before digging a few graves deep enough that bears wouldn't try to find them and then dumping the pieces underground.

When he was confident that there wasn't a trace left, he made his way back, paranoid that he was going to find Ria gone. When he threw the door open, though, the only thing that happened was her jumping up, startled by the sudden noise. When she saw that it was him, she simply rolled her eyes and laid back down, going to sleep again in seconds.

He snorted. It seemed like sleeping was her greatest skill.

Now that he was confident that she was safe, he turned and went outside again to do his usual work around the house and immediate area, determined to be productive despite the woman sleeping inside.


	3. A Normal Man and his Normal Girl

"I want to go into town."

Victor stifled a frustrated sigh. She was relentless. "Why?"

"I want clothes that _actually_ fit. And I want to eat something other than venison. And I'm _bored."_ Ria said forcefully. "I've been here for two months and I've barely even gone outside."

"That's because you've been sleeping 20 hours a day, darlin'."

Over the past months, the female feral had been focused on fixing her body. She was eating massive amounts of meat, almost rivaling Victor's portions, and it was beginning to show. She was gaining weight rapidly, her healing factor was finally kicking back in and working on things while she slept, and she was beginning to actually look _alive._ Her hair was glossy and her eyes were bright, and every morning when Victor saw her in the sunlight coming through the window, it made his breath catch in his throat for a minute.

She was beautiful.

She was sleek and lean, her silver hair falling in curls now that it was finally being taken care of. Her claws were shiny and strong, and now that she was gaining all that weight, Victor could see that while petite, she had some very pleasing curves. Not enough to actually be called _curvy,_ but she wasn't entirely flat, either. Her thighs seemed to be the thickest part of her, carrying most of her weight, and to Victor, that was a good sign. Her legs were strong, and that meant she could run if she needed to.

He caught himself staring at her ass, but not in time to stop the happy growl that came out of his throat. Victor just couldn't help it; he still had yet to taste her, but he knew it would be soon. It had to be.

That didn't stop him from being impatient, though. Sometimes it felt like his entire body ached for her, for just one tiny feel. He dreamed about it almost every night now, and he knew that Ria could tell when she woke up to find his teeth on her neck and his hands grabbing her in places that hadn't been grabbed in years.

Ria gave him an exasperated look. "I'm going whether you come with me or not." Then she smiled and took a step toward him. "Wouldn't you rather see me in clothes that fit right, anyways?"

His stomach tightened. She liked to remind him, at absolutely _every_ chance she got now, that she had been a dancing girl, and a popular one at that. She knew fashion and makeup and hair, and she was beginning to spend more and more time paying attention to taking care of her image now. Unfortunately for Victor, he didn't have very much in the way of beauty supplies, and she complained constantly.

Her true colors were beginning to show, he supposed. She was probably trying to cover up the pain inside of her, to suppress all the memories of everything she had endured. More often than not, she woke Victor up with her nightmares, either by thrashing violently in her sleep or purposely tapping on his chest until he opened his eyes to find her crying and shaking and wanting to talk.

But by day now, she covered up her emotional bruises in homemade sugar scrubs.

"Just a couple outfits. Please? I just want my own clothes."

He growled. "I like seein' you in mine. Or in nothin' at all."

Ria put a hand on his chest. "And that's all fine and dandy...except that I require more. It'll be quick. You can carry me around if you want."

Tempting.

He huffed. "Fine. We have an hour."

She sighed. "Then it's right back here?"

"Yes."

"Okay…so can we go right now?"

Victor stopped himself from growling again and just nodded once before grabbing his signature coat and throwing the door open, waiting for her to follow. She paused, turned towards the bathroom, and almost made it inside to look at herself in the mirror before Victor sprang forward and grabbed her arm, dragging her outside.

"Ya look fine, frail."

"I just wanted to check!" she protested, adjusting the shirt dress she had made out of one of his button downs as he pulled her to the truck that always sat untouched.

"I checked for you, an' you're fine." he grunted, pulling the door open for her and shoving her inside before making his way around to the driver's side. He was silent as he started the engine and they peeled off towards the small dirt path through the trees that led to the highway a few miles in the distance.

"You're useless for this." she groaned as she looked at herself in the mirror. "My skin is still awful…"

Victor tightened his grip on the wheel and gritted his teeth. "No."

"Yes."

His nostrils flared. "Then tell me 'bout somethin' else. I'm gettin' real tired of this, darlin'."

It was finally her turn to growl. "Then what should i talk about, asshole?"

"Anythin' but that."

 _Dancing,_ he thought. _I wanna hear about dancing._

Luckily, she had similar ideas. "I was famous, you know."

"Really, now?" He asked gruffly.

"Yes, really. I danced all around the world."

"What kind of dancing?"

"Burlesque."

He knew that she could smell his excitement.

She grinned. "I went everywhere…New York, New Orleans, San Francisco...even Europe. I even did ads for war bonds once."

"What'd you do before that?"

"Danced in New York."

"Before that."

"What, like my childhood?" she thought for a moment. "I had some brothers. We...lived in a little town on a mountain."

He gave her a sidelong glance. "When'd you turn feral?"

"Puberty, I guess...my baby teeth fell out, and I got fangs in their place. My parents tried to hide me, but that can only work for so long when your kid is a little monster. I kept wanting to hunt, and they kept passing it off as just 'children will be children' until I killed another kid. And then I got my spots, and I ran."

So...those weren't tattoos after all.

"I lived here and there, and I met a couple mutants, and I got into dancing when I was older because the humans thought I was pretty."

"Y'are pretty," Victor said.

"Thanks, big guy."

He was honestly a bit surprised when the growl he expected never rose in his chest.

"I always stayed alone, until I needed a place to hide out when I had been teaching dance and trying to lay low for a while. A family with a couple kids took me in and started treating me like their own." she snorted. "They thought I was in college trying to make a living. The kids started calling me their sister and the parents started acting like I was their daughter." Ria cracked a smile. "Tim and Mary. The kids were Ellen and Danny. Total nuclear family. It was...nice, kind of. But then those assholes caught me."

"You don't need them now, frail." _I'm all you need._

"It'd be nice to pop in and say hi. Plus…"

He stifled a sigh. Of course she would want to go find them.

"I left some stuff there. It's...important to me."

"Eventually."

"I'd like to go before my heat starts and every feral on the continent can smell me."

This time he sighed for real. "Where are they?"

"...Virginia."

Then he growled for real.

"Oh, shut up."

His growl grew into a snarl. For real.

"It would throw off anyone coming to look for me here."

The snarl quieted as he realized that, sadly, she was right. "That's a couple days each way, frail."

"And a couple in the middle with them. A week is more than enough." she looked at him and grinned. "Come on, say it."

He huffed.

"Say it."

"...You're right."

"Bet your ass I am." she settled back into her seat smugly as they drove into town and parked outside of the general store. A few men standing outside the bar across the street perked up as they watched Ria get out of the truck and walk inside, Victor narrowing his eyes at them before following her.

He was antsy thinking about them while he waited for her pick out what she wanted, antsy enough that he didn't even notice how much she was trying to buy until it was too late and he had already absentmindedly handed her the wad of cash he had been paid for his last hit several months ago. She blew through a good portion of it, changed in the store, used a mirror in the bathroom to try to remember how to put on makeup, and handed him the bags to carry before he finally checked back in with reality and had the chance to get irritated with her.

She strutted out in her new boots, happily bouncing along back to the truck and checking her hair in one of the mirrors while she waited for him to catch up.

He just _had_ to get caught up with a showgirl, didn't he?

The men were still standing outside the bar, and this time, they whistled when they saw Ria. She turned towards them after a few moments, as if it took her that long to notice them, and Victor watched her entire body tense and freeze. No, not tense...she was still lithe, just...completely frozen.

He was too confused to do anything other than watch for a minute. One of the men started to holler at her, but fell silent under her unwavering gaze. She simply...stared. What the fuck was she doing? If this was a habit of hers, then she was going to get both of them killed through pure inaction.

Finally, he just couldn't stand it anymore and snarled loud enough to tear everyone away from their senses. Pulling the door open, he shoved Ria inside the truck before stomping around and throwing the bags in on top of her through his side, yanking his door shut, turning the key in the ignition and flooring it.

"What the fuck was that?" he asked.

"Sizing up the locals."

"Sizing up?" he snapped. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

She looked up at him. He was incredibly flustered. "They stared at me. I stared at them. One guy pissed himself."

She was pure predator, Victor decided. He had always heard that female ferals weren't to be trifled with, but if that's how she killed, too, then she was very...cold. Calculated. Silent.

Perfect.

He tried to regain himself. "Good to see you can take care of yourself, darlin'."

"Yes. Well. Safe to say we should go to Virginia now, don't you think?"

"Why?"

"If anybody comes through town asking about me, those men will be able to say I was there. We don't wanna be around while they're sniffing for a leopard."

What a bitch.

"You did this on purpose, frail." he growled.

His icy tone seemed to push her down a notch. "I actually didn't…" she said quietly.

He exhaled sharply. "Yer right, though. But frail…."

"Yes?"

"You wanted to go before your heat." he looked over at her as the truck tore along the highway. "You sound awful eager to get there. Have anythin' to share?"

She swallowed nervously, all of her bravado vanishing. "N-no…" she looked down at the bags in her lap. "I...I feel good. You make me excited. You make my stomach churn. In a good way."

He was amused by the way that her walls were so easily stripped back down. He liked this version of Ria more. "I make you feel nice, huh?"

"...Yeah. I figure it's just a matter of time."

"When was the last time, darlin'?"

"I was in heat?"

He gave a quick nod and she paused to think.

"Definitely before I went to that fucking prison…maybe when I was at the club? So...before I lived with Tim and Mary…" She frowned. "Ten years ago?"

Victor smirked. Her heat was going to hit her hard.

"Kind of sucked anyways though."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I could only find one guy the whole time. He wasn't great. He was feral, though, but not very…impressive."

Victor growled to himself.

"So snarly all the time," Ria commented. "What've you got to be so grumpy about?"

"I'm not grumpy."

"Then what's with the attitude?" she reached out and scratched his chin, crooning. "My big grumpy man."

He raised his lip in a snarl. "Don't test me, frail."

"Not testing anything." she withdrew her hand after gliding her fingers across his cheek. He quieted down again and she smiled softly. She liked that she could both rile him up and calm him.

They drove in silence until Victor turned on the radio and they listened to slightly staticky AM stations. As Ria stared out the window at the small towns they passed occasionally, she gathered that they had been pretty deep into Canada, and the only way they were making it to their destination in just a few days was Victor's reckless driving. They pushed 120 most of the time, and Ria started growing concerned for the poor truck after about an hour.

She tried not to think about it.

Instead, her mind wandered to focusing on her life in general now that she was getting healthier and more comfortable. Victor was dangerous, but what feral wasn't, especially males? He was just _big,_ and so fucking grumpy a good portion of the time...but as much as she pushed him, he never gave her more than warnings. He would growl and snarl and grab her and snap in her face, but he had yet to actually hurt her. She figured that he didn't want to damage something that would potentially be giving him children.

Children...god, was she actually going to have any? She supposed it wasn't such a bad thought, and at least Victor was strong. The leopard in her thought it was a good idea, but she didn't necessarily always trust it about things that were so deeply rooted in ancient, primal instincts. That's what ferals were, though; old, savage, instinctual.

She wondered how long it would be until Victor tried something. It would probably be soon, wouldn't it? Now that he knew that she was expecting a heat...maybe it would be in just a few hours, when it got dark out and they stopped to sleep. Would they even stop at a motel? She hoped so. She really didn't want to figure out how to sleep in the truck, especially with someone as huge as Victor there.

He really made her feel tiny. She knew she was pretty small, but usually she wasn't quite so...delicate. She was stronger than he made her seem, but it never felt like it. Victor was realizing lately, too; he was careful with her, but at the same time, he was growing rougher. He liked to pick her up, and if he decided it was time for bed, he would toss her down. It almost felt like he was playing, even though he rarely looked genuinely happy.

She wanted him to be happy for some reason. Maybe it was because she was getting more and more accepting of him as her mate. She had never had anything very close to one before; she had some flings, especially when she danced in the 40s and had so many military suitors, but none of them ever really lasted. She was a little ashamed to admit that she grew tired of them all pretty quickly, some after just a few weeks if they were humans and not mutants. She had a few one night stands, but not very many of those, either, and the last one had been with that feral who found her in her last heat, and now she was embarrassed that it had ever happened.

"Desperation." She snarled at herself.

Victor tensed in surprise.

"Sorry," Ria glanced over at him.

Thankfully he let it slide. "We're stoppin' for food."

"What? Really?" She looked out the window to see that they were entering another small town.

"Really."

Her stomach growled and she realized how hungry she was. The thought of eating something other than venison and what few other edibles in the cabin made her mouth water. "My god...real food!"

He wrinkled his nose, offended. "I give ya real food, frail."

"The charm of dead deer wears off after the first month."

He snorted and pulled into a lot outside a diner. Ria hopped out of the truck excitedly, happy to be stretching her legs after being cramped for so long. Her left foot tingled and went numb as they started walking in, pins and needles making her stumble into Victor's side. He looked at her in concern, putting an arm around her shoulders as she struggled to regain feeling in her toes.

"I'm fine," she snapped, embarrassed. "Fine."

Victor chuckled, the low sound rumbling almost like his growls did. "Whatever you say, darlin'."

They walked into the surprisingly busy little restaurant, and suddenly all eyes were on the mismatched pair. Waitresses paused in the middle of taking orders, old men stopped mid-chew, and the few children that sat with their parents stared rudely. They had no idea why the two were so unsettling; maybe it was Victor's size, or the long coat he wore; maybe it was Ria's piercing eyes, or how opposite she looked next to him with her small frame and delicate features.

A growl rose in Victor's chest, low enough that the humans couldn't hear it, and Ria put a hand on his arm in warning. His nostrils flared as he took in all the scents of the diner, sifting through them in his head, searching for anything threatening. Ria pulled him past the "Seat Yourself" sign and into a nearby booth, ignoring the scoffs they received from the family across from them.

"You sure aren't good at being discreet," she muttered to Victor.

He looked at her dangerously. "Can't be too careful." he put his head down slightly and peered around at what he could see of the room. "They're afraid. Like they should be."

"I know." Ria answered as a waitress brought them waters and left as quickly as she could. "They probably don't see many out of towners here."

He growled quietly again. "They know what we are. Just don't show it."

Ria furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

"We evolved alongside 'em. Mutants and humans have always existed together, frail. They just forgot." he took a sip of his water, crunching on some of the ice. "They know they should be scared, though."

"Maybe they're just scared because you look like you could suplex a bull elephant."

The edges of his mouth twitched in a smile and he watched as she grabbed a menu and combed through it, twisting a strand of hair around her claws. This was just like a...date? Is that what it was? He would have to ask Jimmy next time they crossed paths. Whether it was or not, Victor found himself enjoying it, and for a few minutes, he felt like they were just some kind of normal couple, blending in with society. Not exactly what he wanted, but it was almost...nice, for a change, to pretend that he didn't know all of the things that he did, that he hadn't seen all of the things he'd seen. Just a normal man, out to dinner with his normal girl.

He knew they'd never be that way, and that their normal was far from any human's, but in that moment, it was nice, and the tiger was quiet.


	4. You're Mine

Checking into the motel ended up being a lot simpler than the ending to their diner visit.

Ria wasn't used to discrimination anymore. After achieving so much fame in the 40s and 50s, she had almost forgotten how it felt to be looked down upon for being mutant, and she wasn't at all happy with rediscovering it. The waitresses didn't speak, despite Ria's efforts to be friendly, and only dropped off plates of food and the bill. The human families cast disgusted looks her way when Ria's claws were out, and being unable to fully retract them, she had no choice but to ignore the glares.

The food was good, and she tried to enjoy it the way Victor seemed to, but it was difficult. After so much time spent being cut open in a lab, society was...hard. Being in public was a bit nerve wracking, and she was happy when they left and got back on the road for a few hours until nightfall. She didn't even complain about staring out the window for so long.

The lady at the motel desk didn't seem to care about the claws or fangs or spots, and only gave Victor a wary look as she handed them the room key. Ria was grateful for how polite the woman had been. There were no pitchforks or torches, and she barely even batted an eye at the two of them when they walked in.

"She knew," Ria commented as Victor led her to their room.

"She was mutant," he grunted as he threw the door open. "Bed. Now."

Ria let out a high snarl. "Don't tell me what to do."

He growled. "I'm tired, frail. An' I'm about to be real grouchy if I don't sleep. Bed. Now." He gave her a nudge towards the full size bed and she made another noise of protest but complied.

"I don't appreciate this," she hissed as he pushed her down and then joined her, a thick arm locked over her waist.

She tried wiggling away, but he only tightened his grip, and she settled for whining in his ear with the hopes that he would get annoyed enough to let her go. She was in need of a shower, and some water, and she needed to pee, and she did not at all have the time or patience to be held down on a bed unless something interesting was going to happen.

"I'll piss on you," she warned jokingly.

Victor made a noise of disgust and released her, rolling onto his side as she jumped up and ran the few steps to the bathroom. She found herself staring at a framed painting of a sunset that was nailed to the back of the door and thought it was a little too elegant for such a cheap motel. But who was she kidding? It was a pretty nice change from the complete lack of any type of artwork in the cabin. She would have to make sure to find something to hang up when they got back.

As she washed her hands, she stifled a sigh. Maybe it was time to stop pretending that she needed to be surrounded by luxuries. She was a feral. She didn't need a lot to get by. Her burlesque days were over, and the sad reality of her life now was that she was hiding. On the run.

Living in the wild wasn't too bad, it was just...not what she had been doing lately. Her body knew what to do to survive; she could hunt if she had to, and she had a good enough sense of smell to find water. She was the ultimate predator, and the leopard was an expert at defying the odds, as it had proven when those scientists sliced her up and down for years.

"Frail," she heard Victor say from the other side of the door.

"Do you need something?" She snipped.

She heard a low growl. "Bed."

"I want to shower." She said haughtily. Walking the few steps to the door, she cracked it open and peeked out at him. "Do you wanna join me?"

That seemed to quell his attitude and he inched closer, staring her down. She could only see his eyes through the tiny slit between the door and its frame, and they were cold and wild and hungry. It stirred something up inside of her, and as she opened the door a tiny bit more, the way that he wedged his shoulder in and forced her to back up toward the shower gave her butterflies.

He grabbed her hips and her stomach knotted up. He had touched her before, yeah, but he always held back. She didn't want him to, but he did it because they both knew they wouldn't be able to stop once it started.

Now she was stronger, though. She was healthier. She could handle it.

And she wanted it.

"Victor…" She purred, trying her best to remember how to do this as she reached up to touch his jaw.

He let out a pleased noise and ran his hands up her sides, taking her shirt with them. He wanted to feel her, he wanted to taste her. That's probably as far as he would let himself go tonight; he wanted to save the real action for her heat, but at least if he couldn't stop himself, he knew that she wanted him, hopefully as much as he wanted her.

"Off with this," he growled, pulling her shirt over her head. He growled again at the lacy bra in his way, moving to rip it off rather than deal with the clasps before Ria stopped him with a snarl and did it herself.

"Don't you dare ruin-"

He cut her off with a kiss and she fell absolutely still.

Did he fuck up already? He pulled back an inch, but before he could even really look at her, she grabbed his face with both hands and attacked his mouth with hers, expertly moving her lips against his. He wrapped one arm around her and put his other hand on her ass, lifting her up and setting her on the counter while he tasted her lips, the beef she had at the diner still lingering there.

His heart was speeding up, and Ria could hear it. She knew he could hear hers, too, but as she leaned back and pulled his shirt off and ran her fingers over his chest, she didn't care. This was happening, and it was happening _now._ She wanted something, _anything_ , from him. To be touched, to be kissed, to just be _wanted._

Enough thinking.

Her fingertips trailed down his stomach, running over the soft line of hair that thickened the lower she went. She felt him stiffen as she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, and as she slipped her hand in, a low growl rose in his throat. It was threatening, and hungry, and terrifying, but she only had a second to try to pull her hand back before Victor's mouth was on hers again. He was demanding and impatient, pushing her until her back hit the mirror and she had to put her other hand on the counter to steady herself.

Victor bit at her lip and she let out a squeal. Her entire body was heating up, warmth spreading across her skin as claws ran up her stomach, leaving light red lines in their wake. A large hand grabbed her breast and squeezed, kneading it while lips and teeth moved down to her neck.

Ria moaned as his fangs pricked her flesh and moved both of her hands to grip his back, sinking her claws into the fabric of his shirt as she pulled him closer to her. Something in her belly was igniting, and as quickly as she could, she tore the shirt off, pushed him back so that she could jump down from the counter, and shoved his jeans and boxers down.

What she saw pleased her, and she hummed happily as she looked down. He was big, and he was hard, and he was all. Hers.

Victor watched intently as she kneeled down in front of him. He was aching for her. He was practically _salivating._ All he could think about was how pretty she would look underneath him, sweaty and panting and-

His breath stopped in his chest when he felt her tongue on him. Oh, he hadn't had this in a _long_ time, and it was so... _good._

Ria fit as much of him into her mouth as she could and worked the rest with her fingers, humming and swirling her tongue around his head until she felt his fingers in her hair pulling her head back. She looked up at him, a string of saliva running from her lips, and she saw a man overcome with lust. His eyes were darkening and his chest was heaving, every muscle defined, every inch of him perfect.

As she stood up, she took his hand and pulled him into the shower, flipping the water on. Before she had a chance to turn around and look at Victor again, he grabbed her hips and slammed her into the wall, flexing his pelvis and shoving his cock up against her. He wanted her to feel how hard she was making him, and he wanted her to know how big he was. She tried to wiggle away and he snarled in response, pinning her with his weight, pressing himself so close to her that there was no way she could possibly move.

"You're-such-a showoff," she panted as she struggled to breathe.

"You're mine," he hissed, ignoring her. Bending his neck, he brought his lips to her throat, ghosting them over her skin while a hand wandered down her front. His claws trailed over all of her belly scars, down to that soft patch of neatly groomed fur. He knew that his fingers were clumsy as he fumbled around, trying to find that little nub that drove females so crazy.

She bucked back against him the second he found it, an overwhelming surge of sensations coursing through her. He smirked and rubbed it again, holding her still with his other hand on her thigh. She moaned, the sound delicious and sticky sweet to his ears, and she only got louder as he slipped a finger into her.

"Like it?" he asked, whispering against her neck.

He nipped at her when she didn't answer and she quickly nodded a few times, gulping in air while Victor played her. He explored the way her walls felt, poking at every unique spot he could find and paying attention to all the ways she flinched and spasmed until finally she opened wide around his finger, juices coating his hand as she whined his name.

"Victor," she breathed, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Please."

He pulled his fingers away and held his hand behind him, letting the water wash it off. "Frail…"

"Please," she said more forcefully, shoving her ass up against him.

He couldn't even think of words to say.

Instead, he took a step back, grabbed her hips, and pushed himself into her.

They both moaned, Ria louder than he, her eyes almost rolling back in her head as he sheathed himself in her. This was already much, _much_ better than the last time she had fucked, and as she listened to Victor grunting and growling as he pulled out and then pushed back in over and over again, all she could think about was the way he was hitting just the right spot, and how maybe _every_ spot was turning out to be the right one, and how she never wanted this to end.

He dug his claws into her, blood running down her thighs as he pulled her back into him to match his thrusts. He pushed himself deeper each time, speeding up as he felt pressure building. She was so warm and so tight, and as he began to lose himself, the sabretooth took over and sank its teeth into the place where Ria's neck and shoulder met. Victor didn't release her when she cried out; instead, he raked his claws down her front, blood oozing out of the scratches before they mended themselves. He put a hand in her hair and slammed her against the wall again, steadying her with his other, still ignoring her squeals and screams. Half of them were good anyways, as he found out when he felt her clamp down around him and shudder.

Her whole body surged, warmth and electricity flowing through her veins as she orgasmed. She heard him grunt her name and then felt more warmth as he finished and filled her with a few more pumps before finally releasing her and stepping back.

When she turned to look at him, she was shaky, and for a minute she had trouble straightening back up after being bent over for so long. She saw him covered in her blood, his chest heaving as he leaned back against the opposite wall. He grinned, fangs glistening red, as she stumbled toward him and lazily wrapped her arms around his middle.

"That was tame, darlin'." he commented, his breath still ragged.

"That was also my first time in years," she panted, resting against him as water ran down over her head.

He gave a slight chuckle and kissed her forehead. "Just wait."

"For?"

"The heat." he looked down at her and growled almost playfully. "I'll be so far inside you…"

She grinned and slapped his chest. "Don't talk about that now."

"Why not?" he looked at her innocently. "I think we're on that level, darlin'."

"Because you just pounded me up against a wall in a motel bathroom," she deadpanned. "I've had my share for the night."

"Gimme ten minutes an' I'll be ready again."

She paled. "Loverboy…"

"What?" he grabbed the soap and began lathering up.

"I'm gonna be sore as it is." Ria mimicked him once he was done. "I don't need to go a billion rounds back to back. We have to meet people tomorrow."

He growled. "Or we could stay here."

"Victor," she warned as she rinsed off.

"Fine." he grumbled. "Fine."

They washed their hair in silence and both dried off, and it wasn't until Victor had already gone to bed and Ria was braiding her hair that she finally noticed her neck. At first she just stared, blinking in disbelief at such a huge, ugly mark, wondering why it hadn't gone away yet, but then she found a way to make her vocal cords work again and screeched.

"What the hell is this?" she asked Victor, marching out to stand naked before him.

"What's what?" he asked from his place under the sheets.

She pointed to her neck. "This, numb nuts."

He snarled. "Just because we fucked doesn't mean yer gettin' away with that, frail."

She rolled her eyes. "So what the fuck is it?"

He smirked. "Means yer mine now."

"I already was," she snapped. He beckoned for her to join him in bed and she complied, slowly crawling in next to him. "This is ugly. And it isn't healing."

"It won't." he said, tucking her up against him. "You don't like it?"

"I-no," she stammered. "I do. I just wish you didn't do it there, fuckhead."

He snarled much louder this time, though she could hear the exhaustion in his voice even behind the nasty sound. "Do not test me."

She growled. "Or what?"

His hand was out and around her throat in a flash. "Is this what you want?"

Once she realized he wasn't going to squeeze hard enough to pop her head off, she smirked. "Maybe."

He felt his dick perk back up and groaned.

"Not right now," Ria hushed when she felt him harden. She sighed. "I do like it. But you need one."

"So give me one."

She looked up at him. "When I go into heat. Then I will."

"You'll do a lot." he commented smugly. "You'll be willing to do anything I say for the chance to get dick."

Her face reddened. "I will not."

"No?"

"I'd do anything to sit on your face. That's what I would do."

He mentally chastised himself for not eating her out in the shower. "S'pose it counts."

She smiled genuinely this time and snuggled up against him. "I'm yours now."

A smiled danced on his lips. "Mine."

"And you're mine."

"Yep."

"I guess Mrs. Creed doesn't sound awful."

"We ain't gettin' married, frail. That's...human." he wrinkled his nose.

"Well, I don't know any humans who take chunks out of each other at their weddings, so maybe you're right. Fine. I won't take your name."

That put him out a bit, but only a tiny amount. He honestly couldn't care less about marriage or changing names. "Exactly. Now go the fuck to sleep."

She smiled to herself and rolled over to face him, tugging her head beneath his arm. "Goodnight, grumpy."

He only grunted in response before he was out cold.


	5. Tim, Mary, and Co

Ria was nervous. She was excited to be seeing Tim and Mary again, but this time she had Victor, and she had been away for much longer than anyone could have expected. How could she tell them where she had been all those years? Would they even understand? They definitely wouldn't understand Victor, she knew that much. They were so very…well, they were nuclear. Tim worked all day. Mary stayed home to take care of the house and kids. Danny was thirteen and Ellen was ten.

She frowned as she pulled her pants on. No, they were older than that now. It had been...oh god, five years. Five fucking years that she spent in that prison. Five years without the sun, without a bed, without warmth. Five years in a cage. What had happened in all that time? Were they even still in the same house? What did they all look like? The kids had to be in high school. She had missed seeing them growing up. They were her friends, and she was going back to them after disappearing without a trace. What were they going to think?

With a smile, she pulled a shirt on. Danny probably had a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. No, probably a girlfriend. Ria was pretty sure the kid had a crush on her when she had lived with them. She couldn't blame him, though. Ferals were alluring to humans, and besides that, she was well aware of her looks.

It took her a long time to learn how to keep her hair and makeup the way she wanted, but as a leopard, it was a predatory and defensive mechanism. Looking healthy meant that people were less likely to mess with her, and appearing beautiful made it easier to seduce and catch her prey. Ria had always heard that beauty was just a natural feral trait, but she assumed that it was moreso a female characteristic. Victor was handsome and definitely sexy, but he didn't have the delicate grace that she did. He was rough and tough, and for him, his natural defenses came in the form of his size and strength.

Victor came out of the bathroom completely naked and she felt her face flush involuntarily. He was freshly showered, having decided to wash again after the second round of sex that had spontaneously occurred when they both woke up a few hours prior. Ria found that she could just stare at him forever, running her eyes back and forth over his form, following the lines of his muscles, the slope of his shoulders...she could watch him move and flex and breathe for days without getting bored. Every time her eyes fell on him, she found something new-a new line, new curvature, new sizzling energy balling up as his muscles bunched and released. She could almost see his power flowing through him, swirling and clenching and exploding in everything that he did.

He was so big, and so wild, and so _dangerous._

Oh god, what were Tim and Mary and the kids going to think?

They both finished getting dressed and left the motel, driving in silence after they slipped into the truck and out onto the road without incident. Ria kept expecting to find that someone was after her-after all, she was valuable to the assholes that were trying to breed her-but she kept finding that they were safe, and it was putting her on edge.

"Victor?" she asked nervously. When he grunted, she continued. "Is this actually working?"

"Is what workin', frail?" he spared her a glance.

"This trip. All of this."

"Throwin' 'em off?" he thought for a second before nodding.

"Don't they have trackers, or something? I mean, they were good enough that they caught me in the first place…"

"We've only been in quiet areas. No big cities, no crowded subways. We would've smelled somethin' if it was close."

"So what are they doing? They're not going to just let me go."

"They're stayin' quiet to try an' figure it out. Nobody knew that was my territory, I made sure of it. They've got no reason to be suspicious 'bout us." he looked over at her. "I'm keepin' you safe, Ria."

She frowned. "I know. Thanks."

As she turned her head to look out the window, Victor watched her. She was hiding her anxiety well. She had to be beyond worried about everything, and he had to admit that he was, too. The concept of someone trying to take her away angered him so much that his best defense was to just not think about it, but even that didn't always work, and even in that moment he found his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel. His claws cut into the bottom edges of his palms, and as the wounds continued to heal back up, he only clenched his muscles harder.

How dare anyone want to take something so beautiful away from him? She was perfect, and she was his, and he wasn't good at sharing. He would kill for her, and he would die for her, and there was absolutely no way in hell that some lab coat was going to slice her open to mess with her.

"Fuckin' humans," he snarled to himself.

Ria jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. "What about them?"

"What they did to you."

She hissed. "You don't know what it was like. I hate them. I hate what they're capable of."

"Never said I knew. But I've seen what they do." Victor said as he turned off the highway. They were getting close now. "Used to work for a man named Stryker. He had us do...shit."

"Why'd you work for him if he was human?"

Victor was quiet for a few moments. "Jimmy an' I were in military custody when we wouldn't die."

"Why…?"

"Firing squad didn't work." he smirked. "Thought they could execute us back in Vietnam."

"Jimmy's your brother, right?" Ria asked. Victor had mentioned him a few times, but never in any length or detail. She found it hard to believe that he had any family, just based on the way he acted, but if he did, she wanted to meet them.

He nodded once. "Little brother. We stuck together through a few wars...it was just me an' him for a long time." a shadow crossed through his features. "He was the only one who could keep me under control sometimes."

A small twinge of fear struck Ria. "What does that mean?"

He looked at her. "Let's just say that I did a lot of shit to a lot of people that I'll never do to you."

Ria forced the fear back down. There was some sincerity in his eyes, and she just nodded, not wanting to pursue the topic when they were so close to meeting her humans. "Let's talk about something else then."

Victor swallowed and looked back at the road. They were entering the city, and as Ria directed him towards the suburbs, he noticed how nervous she was getting.

"Doin' okay, frail?"

She nodded a little too quickly.

"Liar."

"Okay, fine!" she burst out. "I haven't seen them in over five fucking years. Are they even going to remember me? What if my shit's not there anymore? What if they moved?"

He growled. "I hope for your sake they didn't, darlin'. I didn't drive you this far to turn around again."

She made a whining noise. "I have to tell them so much…"

"How much?"

"They obviously know _some,"_ she said, flexing her claws. "Hard to hide some of this...I never told them how old I am, or that I heal, or that I'm so rare, or-or anything about anyone else. I don't know what they'll think of you. I don't know what they'll think of any of it."

"Plannin' on comin' clean about all of it?" he grinned. "They'll love me."

"They thought of me as their own child. They acted like my own parents. They're a very traditional family with old values and all that. They're not going to be thrilled with the whole mate concept."

"But you still wanna tell 'em?"

She sighed. "I'll...tell them some. To protect them. But they have to know why I was gone. But if they went through any of my things, they'll know a lot more than they did." she looked out the window. "Left here. It's at the end of the street."

Victor grimaced. The neighborhood was a subdivision, with neatly trimmed lawns and small yards. The houses were big and uniform, all very clean, and as they drove past, he saw children playing outside and sports moms loading up their minivans. Maybe Ria was right to be nervous.

He groaned. This place wasn't at all like anywhere he had ever lived or been very comfortable in. He was a beast of war and the wild, not this...upper middle class domesticity. He hunted his own food and killed for money when it pleased him, and he had never, ever felt the need to enter a place like this. Cities sure-had had spent time in a few tiny apartments while staking out hits-but this was something else entirely.

They pulled up to the house and he noticed Ria running her fingers through her hair nervously. She gave him a quick, uneasy smile and unbuckled her seatbelt with shaky hands before leaving the truck and walking around the Chrysler that sat in the driveway. Victor followed her, more grouchy than nervous now as he passed the small flower beds. What if Ria wanted this more than his cabin? Was he willing to make that kind of sacrifice for his mate?

As he stepped up onto the porch, his head bumped into the wind chime hanging down in front of the door and he growled. He was going to have a concussion if everything in the house was this low hanging.

"Shut up," Ria hissed.

He only growled more in response as he heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. He could smell humans, two adolescent and two adult. No pets, which was good. They were always afraid of him. The only animal that wasn't was a kodiak bear he had encountered during a trip north, and he highly doubted that there would be any of those nearby right now.

Ria's entire body was shaking, and just as the door opened, he put a clawed hand on her shoulder to steady her. "It's fine, frail."

A woman stood before them, and just as suddenly as the door had opened, she burst into tears. " _Ria?"_

She pulled Ria away into a hug and Victor snorted in annoyance while she just squeezed his mate and repeated her name over and over as she sobbed. He didn't like this. When he finally snarled, the woman jumped and pulled back, wiping tears away from her eyes.

"Victor," Ria warned.

"Come in, come in!" the woman said, ignoring them as she continued crying. "Come in and sit down. What can I get you? Coffee? Black still?"

"Yes please," Ria said as she grabbed Victor's hand and pulled him into the house and then into the kitchen. The scent of a pot roast filled the air. "Mary, this is Victor."

As Mary started a pot of coffee, she finally looked at them again, watching Victor warily. "Tim will be home any minute now. We've both been worried sick, Ria. You can tell us everything when he gets back from work."

"What about Danny? And Ellen?" Ria asked as she sat down at the island, letting go of Victor's hand.

"Oh my goodness, I forgot to call for them!" Mary exclaimed, running around the island to stand in the doorway. "Danny? Ellen!" she shouted.

Footsteps sounded upstairs and within a few moments, two well dressed and polite looking teenagers walked in. The girl's face lit up when she saw Ria, running over to embrace her when she stood from the chair.

"Where have you been?" she asked, her face covered in smiles.

"Canada, most recently," Ria answered. She looked past Ellen and towards the boy. He was tall and gangly, with dark brown hair and glasses. Victor assumed he looked more like his father.

The boy smiled at Ria, but his eyes kept nervously shifting back to the big male mutant. "Who's he?"

"This is Victor, my-"

She was interrupted by the front door opening. A man walked in briskly, probably wondering who exactly had left a truck with a Canada plate outside his house. "Mary?" he called.

"Yes, Tim!" his wife answered. "Tim, it's-it's Ria!"

"What?" he came into the kitchen, revealing that he wore a business suit and carried a briefcase. "Oh my god." He dropped the briefcase and crossed the room to sweep Ria into a hug. "We had half the city looking for you! Where have you been?"

Victor growled as they embraced and Tim pulled away to look at him as he stood there, flexing his claws. "Who's this?"

"Ellen, help me set the table," Mary said as a timer dinged to signal that the roast was finished. Victor wondered if he would ever get Ria to cook him any kind of dinner. Probably not.

Tim led the way to the dining room as Ellen began setting out plates in front of them. A few minutes later Mary brought the food out, and Victor sat down awkwardly next to Ria. She was surprised that he had stayed quiet for so long, but she could feel how tense he was, and part of her was thankful for his silence.

"We gave up hope of seeing you again," Mary said as she finally sat down. "We were so afraid…."

"We thought you died!" Ellen blurted out.

"Ellen," Tim warned. "We were worried sick, kiddo. No note, your room intact…"

"I was...taken," Ria said slowly, trying to choose her words carefully.

Mary gasped and put a hand over her heart.

"What's he got to do with it?" Danny asked, jerking his head towards Victor.

"Watch yourself, kid." Victor growled.

"I escaped in his territory," Ria explained.

"...Territory?" Tim asked skeptically.

"I...haven't told you guys that much."

"About what? Your condition?"

"It ain't a condition, human." Victor said coldly. "Ria's a mutant."

"Right," Tim said, eyes narrowed.

"We've always been very accepting of Ria and her mutation," Ellen said curtly. So far, Victor liked her the best, even if she seemed like a perfect church girl.

He snorted.

"I'm...kind of rare." Ria, looking around. "And that makes me valuable. There are people-people with power-who want to use mutants."

"Use how?" Mary asked, a frightened expression on her face. "Honey, what did they do?"

"I don't know what their end goal was. I just know that they needed me. They threw me in a cage and dressed me in rags. They starved me. They tried to break me. My first day there they strapped me down and operated without anesthesia." she stood and pulled her shirt up to show them the scars on her stomach. Mary gasped yet again, moving her hand to cover her mouth. Tim stifled his own noise of shock, and Ellen's eyes widened. "These won't heal and I don't know why."

Danny crossed his arms. "Were they trying to take out organs or something? See what you can live without?"

"I wish." Ria sat back down. "They wanted...they tried to…" she was suddenly having trouble speaking, a lump in her throat forming.

Victor took her hand, surprising her with how gentle he was. She seemed adamant about telling this humans what had happened, and he wanted the chance to express his anger if she wasn't going to be able to. "The lab coats tried breedin' her."

"Oh my god," Mary gasped (again) and Tim muttered in disbelief. Ellen paled.

"What the fuck," Danny commented.

"Daniel!" Mary halfheartedly scolded, glancing at him. She looked back at Victor, daring to meet his gaze. "But why?"

Ria still looked too uncomfortable to talk, her eyes trained on her hands in her lap, so Victor answered. "There ain't many female ferals out there. I've only heard of a few others an' never met any. They always have somethin' up their sleeve. This time, they wanted cubs."

"I heard one of them say something about soldiers." Ria spoke up finally. "He said they wanted more like the ones they had."

Now it was Victor's turn to look uncomfortable. That had to mean him and the runt.

"They use mutants for war?" Danny asked.

"Damn right they do." Victor growled.

"Why? Because you're...enhanced?"

"Because I can't be killed," Victor snapped.

"So you were one of them?"

He made a noise of irritation in the back of his throat. "I've been in more wars than you know about, kid. Ever been to Gettysburg?"

Danny nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah, well, me too."

"There's no way you're that old!" Ellen said, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"We'll talk about how old Mr...Victor is in a minute, dear." Mary said, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I want to know if Ria has anything else to say."

"You just wanna know if she popped anything out." Danny grumbled.

Mary pretended she didn't hear him, but Ria looked at him in annoyance. "No. I miscarried every single time."

"Oh, darling," Mary said sadly.

Ria wrinkled her nose. "I didn't want them. Especially in a place like that. It was dirty and dark. I didn't see the sun until...well, until they tried moving me. That's when I left." she glanced up at Victor with a tiny smile. "They wanted to take me to another compound. I guess it was pretty remote, based on where I ended up."

Tim crossed his arms. "And where was that?"

"The woods. Canadian wilderness. It was Victor's territory, and he found me just in time. He killed them, and then he took me in."

"Well." Tim sighed. "I suppose this explains why they couldn't find a trace of you."

"We had missing ads everywhere," Mary said. "All over the city. Even on the news...eventually, they said there was no point anymore, but we always hoped you would come back…"

Ria cracked a smile. "Come on. It's harder than that to get rid of me."

"We're just glad you're safe," Tim said. He looked at Victor. "Thank you for taking care of her."

"I have to." he replied. "She's my mate."

"I-it's a feral thing," Ria said quickly.

"What exactly does that entail?" Mary asked, seeming concerned. Victor tried not to grin. She seemed like the kind of person who disapproved greatly of sex outside of wedlock, and if she only knew what they would be doing once that sweet, sweet heat kicked in…

"It's just...you know, the uh, feral equivalent of marriage." Ria answered. "It's ancient. Probably older than the entire concept of marriage. Just a feral thing."

Victor smirked.

"Are there any other 'feral things' we should know about?" Tim asked as the atmosphere finally lifted enough to start dinner. He reached for a knife and began cutting the roast.

"Well...there's a lot," Ria said.

"How old is Victor?" Ellen asked hopefully, glancing back and forth between the two mutants.

Victor was finding her amusing. "I was born in 1830."

"What about you?" she looked at Ria.

"Can't remember exactly." she carved her own slice of the roast and began eating.

"Have you danced your whole life?" Tim asked. Things were getting extremely polite.

"When I left home I ended up learning. In the 40s I got a bit famous."

"How come you never told us any of this?" Ellen asked.

Ria shrugged. "I got used to people dying on me. Makes you stay distant, you know?"

She frowned. "Yeah, I guess…."

There was silence for a few awkward minutes before Mary finally spoke up. "So, how long will you be staying?"

"Just a few days. We really just came to let you know I'm okay and to grab a few things."

The woman's face fell a bit at that. "And then it's back to...to Canada?"

"Yeah. We've got some more business we have to take care of."


	6. The Birds

"Ria, I'm...worried," Mary said.

"About what?"

The two of them were in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner. Ellen was sitting at the island, appearing to ignore them as she looked at her phone, but Ria could tell that she was listening with at least one ear. Tim had convinced Victor to shoot pool with him in the basement, and he had reluctantly agreed with Ria's urging. She was nervous about him killing the poor man, but he had promised her with a roll of his eyes that he would behave.

"He seems to be a bit...brutish."

She had to agree there. "Yeah, he is a bit. But he has to be."

"...Why?"

Ria shrugged. "It's a tough world. Male ferals have to be strong like that to fight and kill and protect what's theirs."

"Are you safe with him? He won't hurt you, will he?"

She smiled a little. "He's big and dangerous, but he wouldn't do anything to me. I'm safer with him than I am anywhere else."

"There's so much to your life that I don't understand," Mary frowned. "I'm still concerned about you being...mates, or whatever you call it."

"What about it?" Ria felt a twinge of annoyance. She really didn't want to have this talk with her. Mary was a god-fearing woman. She went to church every Sunday. There was no way she was going to be telling her about going into heat and having children with the man she just called a brute.

"Is it like...animal mates?"

Ria saw Ellen glance up from her phone. "In a way."

Mary's face reddened. "And why are you with him? When did you meet him, exactly?"

"A few months ago. Like I said, it's feral stuff."

Mary frowned deeper and made a tutting noise as she left the kitchen to collect more plates from the table. Ellen took the opportunity to perk up.

"Does that mean you've had sex?"

"Yes." Ria answered flatly.

Ellen looked more excited than she had all night. "Was it good?"

Ria moved to rifle through the cupboards for post-dinner snacks. "You're talking like you would have something to compare it to."

"Maybe I do," she said smugly, crossing her arms.

The mutant raised an eyebrow. "Guess you aren't the kid I remember anymore, are you?"

"I've been dying to tell somebody who actually knows things." Ellen said. "Everybody at school...they say they know, but they're just like me. And you're so _old._ You've gotta know so much!"

Ria snorted and grabbed a bag of gluten free chips. "Don't you still go to a private school, little miss nunnery?"

Ellen rolled her eyes. "It's not a nunnery. It's co-ed."

"A bunch of horny teenagers in one place, then." she leaned over the counter, opening the chips. "I assume you've been naughty lately."

Ellen's face reddened. "Only a bit."

"What exactly-"

They both fell silent as Mary began humming in the other room, but when Ria poked her head around the corner to find the woman cleaning with earbuds in and clearly ignoring everything around her, she looked back at Ellen and started talking again.

"What exactly have you been up to?" she asked, returning to her former spot.

"There's this boy-"

"Already bad news." Ria cut her off jokingly.

"-his name is Michael. We...messed around a little." she looked down sheepishly. "I want to go further, though."

"Be safe." Ria offered. Honestly, what was she supposed to say? She clearly wasn't a good role model at this point.

"How? Condoms? What do you do?"

"Do you honestly not learn any of this shit in school?"

"You didn't answer me."

She threw her arms up in defeat. "There's tons of ways. You've got no excuse. Don't fuck your life up if you do this, but also...if you wanna, then do it. Kick him in the balls if he makes you do something you don't wanna. Hell, call me if he tries something."

Ellen smiled a little. "Will you send Victor after him?"

"Worse." she put her hands on her hips. "I'll go after him myself. You don't want a leopard on your tail, trust me."

She smiled wider. "So...it's okay?"

"What? Sex?" Ria walked around the island to sit next to her. "Fucking ain't no joke." God, she was starting to sound like Victor. "...But it _is_ pretty fun."

"Will it hurt?"

"Maybe."

"...Will I bleed?"

"Sure hope not." Ria wrinkled her nose. "I think I did. Hard to remember, though. Besides, things were different then. Now you've got tons of shit to help out. When I was your age, my best birth control was my own."

"What, tracking?"

She barked a laugh. "That shit doesn't work. Believe me, I've known _plenty_ of girls who've tried that and ended up with babies." she sighed. "No, I've got something you don't. Part of my mutation."

"What is it? Super vagina?"

"No," she said slowly. "I'm half animal. I'm a beast in my core. My body goes into heat for a few days at a time, and that's the only time I'm fertile." she looked at Ellen sternly. "But you're not me, and you're using protection. Got it?"

The teenager nodded. "So…"

"So?"

"So are you and Victor…"

"Are we what?"

"Are you going to use protection?"

"When I go into heat?" she started crunching on chips. "Doubt it."

An almost scandalous look crossed over Ellen's face. "Why?"

Ria shrugged. "It's...something deep down. I don't know."

She did know, but there was no way she was going to have an in depth discussion about this with a kid. She would talk with Ellen about sex and steer her right, but telling a child everything about the now seemingly very adult world of ferals wasn't on her agenda. She didn't want to look at this kid, whom she had known as an _actual_ child last time they were together, and tell her that she was listening to some primeval instinct telling her to do what ferals did and raise hellions.

"Well, you should name one after me."

Ria laughed lightly. "As if."

Ellen was always so cheerful. She was naive-not as naive as Ria had previously she thought, she now realized-and being brought up the way she had been hadn't shown her very much of the world, save for their yearly cruises. She had always been Ria's favorite, like the sister she never had, and if she had been a mutant as well, Ria would have taught her everything she knew.

But she was born completely normal, with no mutations aside from the simple ones that made her hair straight and her eyes blue. She didn't have much of a place in the mutant world, and especially not in the feral one. Ria wasn't about to drag her into it with talk of cubs and fucking like rabbits because it's what the leopard and tiger wanted to do.

"So...say I do end up doing it," Ellen said. "What...what do I _do?"_

Ria smiled at her innocence. She wasn't going to delve into her mated life, but she was willing to teach this girl what she needed to know to stay safe and healthy in a school of church kids. She had been involved with enough peep shows and bordellos to know how normal, human men worked, and she also knew how things could turn out if Ellen took a wrong turn. Ria had grown up in a time when many diseases didn't have treatments, and she had seen her fellow dancers and friends go down with syphilis and other infections.

She had also seen what happened to the children that some of them had in secrecy, behind closed doors, afraid of what the rest of the world was going to say and do. Times had been different back then, and things had been grisly and unfair, but some parts of life were similar now, and if Ellen's mother wasn't going to tell her daughter what she needed to know about the world, then Ria sure as hell was.

Shit, she was thinking like a mom now.

Victor was enjoying about ten percent of his time with Tim and Danny. The rest was annoyance. At least he was good at billiards.

"You're damn good at this, Victor," Tim said as he lost.

"I've had practice."

"Pool shark?"

"Rarely. There's better cash elsewhere."

"Doing what?" Danny asked from where he sat next to the minibar. This basement was a total man cave, and while Victor liked part of it, it was so...human.

"Kid, you don't wanna know." he smirked.

"You said you were in the service?" Tim asked, putting his stick down to get himself a drink.

Victor nodded with a grunt. "Army. Infantry. Then...special ops."

"Funny, I never thought Ria would go for a jar head."

"First of all, kid, that's marines." Victor finally took his coat off and tossed it on the chair next to Danny. He put a hand on the back of it, flexing his claws.

Tim paled slightly as he noticed how sharp they were.

"Second of all, how would you know?"

"I've known her a lot longer than you have." Danny said stubbornly.

Victor growled quietly. Was this pipsqueak seriously challenging him?

"Come to think of it, I can't recall her ever having anyone special in her life," Tim commented. "Scotch?"

"That all you got?" Victor asked.

"It's the best I've got."

"Yeah." he looked back at Danny. "You got some guts, kid."

Danny looked a bit proud until Victor added, "That ain't a compliment."

"Why not?" he asked. "Seems good to be brave."

"Not in dangerous company." Victor said as he took a glass from Tim and downed the scotch. "It'll get you in trouble with the wrong crowd. Or the right one, dependin' on who you wanna be."

"Are you saying you're dangerous?"

The kid didn't know when to quit.

Victor snarled, his fangs bared. "Do I look dangerous?"

Danny opened his mouth to retort, but Tim cut him off. "Everybody just calm down, now. Nobody's threatening anyone."

Victor's nostrils flared in irritation. This was ridiculous. He had better things to be doing with his time. He was agitated enough as it was with Ria out of his sight, but now he had this... _child_ trying to tell him about his own mate? If he hadn't promised that everybody would survive the night, he would have strung his innards up an hour ago for daring to challenge him.

He was snarky and he was clearly unhappy with Victor and Ria being together. Victor could only guess that he had some kind of boyish crush on his woman, and he didn't like that, no matter how stupid and childish it was. The kid was like a fresh spring buck trying to stake his claim, and Victor was a very, _very_ unhappy king of the forest.

"What? I just want her to be safe." Danny said haughtily.

"She is." Victor snapped.

"Can you guarantee that?" Tim asked.

"Do I look like I'm kiddin'?"

Tim swallowed, trying to stand his ground. Something about Victor was terrifying, and it wasn't just his size, or his claws, or his obvious strength. It was something else. Maybe it was the way he was always on the alert, or the way he watched everyone as if they were prey. It was deeply unsettling, and Tim had no desire to be on this man's bad side.

But he did want to keep his children safe, all of them. That included Ria. As a father, he didn't like this situation very much; gone for years, apparently tortured, suddenly shows up with burly, snarly new boyfriend-sorry, _mate-_ with no apparent concerns for her own safety around this strange mutant man.

He had a feeling that if he was impolite, though, Victor was going to paint the walls of his beloved hangout with Tim's own blood.

"I'd like to see proof." Danny said, crossing his arms.

Tim was really starting to wish his son would just shut up.

"The proof is that she's alive." Victor growled. "She'd be dead in the woods without me."

"You said you own land in the forest?" Tim said, wanting to lift the mood.

"In a sense."

"How much? What do you have?"

"Few hundred acres. I have everythin' I need there."

"You a hunting man, Victor?"

Victor snorted. "Hunter of what?"

"Everything." Danny grumbled. "Humans."

"You askin' if I've killed before?" Victor laughed darkly. "All part of the job."

That wasn't exactly what Tim wanted to hear. "And can you support Ria and yourself with this...job?"

"I could support us without it."

"You understand we're just concerned about her safety," Tim said. "We all loved her very dearly. When she disappeared...well, it tore us up. Having her back, knowing that she's alive...we all just want the best for her."

"You think she's yours. I get that." Victor laughed again. "But she ain't ever gonna be a human like you. She's got her own life. Her own plan." his gaze shifted to Danny. "She belongs with her own kind now that she's done pretendin'."

"She didn't pretend anything." Danny was holding his gaze.

"Kid, she's older than your grandparents. You think you know so much about her? You didn't even know she was more than a pretty set of claws and fangs."

The air was growing tense, and as Tim racked his brain to find a way to keep this from going downhill and resulting in the death of his big-mouthed son, the phone rang from the floor above, and then Mary called from the top of the stairs.

"Tim, dear! It's Bob, from the firm!"

"On my way up!" Tim yelled. He finished his drink, gave Danny a harsh warning glare, and rid himself of the conversation as quickly as he could.

Victor watched him go, pleased with this chain of events. With him out of the way, he was free to address this insolent child.

"So, kid." he walked around the bar to pour himself another glass. "You got a thing for my girl."

"No." Danny said quickly, denying it as fast as possible.

Victor looked up at him. "No point in lyin' to me. I can smell it."

Danny frowned. That was seriously weird. "I don't have to tell you anything."

Victor finished his drink in a few seconds. "It's in your best interest if you do."

"Okay, so I had a little crush on her. So what? I'm allowed to."

"Is that what you think?" Victor moved back around to Danny's side and put a hand on his shoulder, claws fully extended. "Don't pretend I don't see what you're up to, Danny."

The kid gulped nervously.

"You think you can tell me what's what. Think you're hot shit. I could snap you in half right now if I wanted, and you wouldn't be able to even blink."

"Y-you're crazy!"

"You know that ain't true." Victor leaned in close. "You put a hand on her an' you won't have any hands left. Got it?"

"Yes sir." his human eyes were filled with the panic of a prey animal staring death in the face.

"I'm not kiddin', shit stain."

Victor released him, pulling his claws out from the fabric of Danny's shirt. He would beat down anyone who tried to make any kind of moves on Ria, even this scrawny excuse for a suitor.

"Yeesh," Danny mumbled.

"You got more to say?"

"Not to you."

"That's a good answer."


	7. Photographs

"Victor…"

He grunted in response.

"What did you do?"

Victor looked at his mate. She was kneeling in front of a dresser that sat at the foot of the bed, where he was currently slouching. Ria was so beautiful, so delicate...tiny jolts of electricity shot through his arms as he watched and thought about her. Soft, touchable, inviting. Begging to be grabbed and manhandled. The night shirt she wore showed off her bare back, all those spots swirling around each other in a mesmerizing black pattern that he could stare at forever.

A rumble rose in Victor's chest as he followed the spots down to her rump. She had a pair of silk sleep shorts on, but honestly, her ass was round enough that they didn't cover much. She had already made him agree to no sex while they stayed with the humans, especially at times like this when the family was asleep and not at work or school, and the only reason he had behaved this long was that her body wasn't sending him any signals aside from the usual ones. He didn't give two shits about the humans and their comfort levels, but Ria...he cared about her. So unfortunately, all he could do was sit and watch and wait.

"I didn't do anythin' at all." he said defensively.

"The kid just about pissed his pants."

"The _kid_ was challengin' me."

She looked up at him with the most exasperated expression he had ever seen on anyone's face. "He's a teenager, Victor. How could he possibly-"

"I got a zero tolerance policy."

With a sigh, Ria stood, bringing a book with her over to sit next to him on what used to be the bed she went to sleep in every night. "I know, tiger."

He liked that a little bit. With a tiny smile that Ria couldn't see, Victor pulled her onto his lap, peering down over her shoulder as she opened the little book to reveal dozens and dozens of photographs.

"What're these, Spotty?" he asked, leaning in closer.

"I saved pictures I thought were important," Ria explained, flipping to the very first page. "Made more sense back in the day, when it wasn't so easy to find things like this again."

The first image was in grainy black and white, the small photo printed on thick, musty-smelling paper. A dozen or so girls in leotards stood in two rows, their expressions serious.

"Find me." Ria commanded.

Victor looked at the slightly blurred faces, finally settling on one scrawny kid at the end of the back row. "You were even tiny back then, frail."

"I was 14," she retorted. "But yeah...I was. This is the school I first ended up at. They took me in as an orphan. They never let me do anything there…." The rest of the page was filled with pictures of a small dance academy. She flipped the page. "This was my first time onstage."

The photo in the very top corner was unmistakably Ria. Her hair was short, almost flat against her head, but it was definitely her.

"When was this?" Victor asked quietly.

Ria took the photo out and flipped it over to read the back. "1922." she smiled. "My stage name in the beginning was Lady Ria. Corny, right?"

Victor gingerly took the picture from her and flipped it back over to look at her face again. She was smiling, and her eyes were sparkling almost as much as her dress was. She had two giant feathered fans and more feathers on her head, but none of that mattered compared to her face. Her expression was enchanting, happier than he had ever seen anyone look before. He wanted to see her like that again.

"You can keep it." Ria mumbled. "If you want."

Instead of answering, Victor looked down at her. Her face had changed since 1922. It didn't light up the same way as in the photo, and she seemed...harder. Sadder. It made sense, he supposed, given everything that had happened to her since then, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. He wanted her to be able to be happy like she had been, and he wanted to be the reason that she was.

"What were you doing in 1922?" she asked, pulling him away from his thoughts.

He shrugged. "Movin' around...drinkin' and fightin'."

"Did you ever go to watch dancing girls?"

"Everybody did," he laughed.

She smiled a tiny bit. "Did you ever see me?"

"Darlin', I promise, if I had seen you dance then, I would've remembered it forever." he pressed a kiss against the top of her head. "An' I would'a done more than just watch you…"

Her smiled widened, but she elbowed him in the ribs. "You most certainly would not have. Lady Ria didn't take men back to her dressing room."

"Then who did?"

She flipped to the next page. "The Leopard."

The woman in these photographs was older, bolder, less naive, more luxurious. In the first one, she had a black dress, a white fur robe, and a cigarette; her lips were full, and her eyes were so inviting that Victor almost felt like he could join her then and there. She oozed 1940s sex appeal, and as the years passed in the photographs, she got richer, raunchier, and so much more risque that in the final photo on the page, she wore absolutely nothing at all and was covered only by the taxidermied head of the leopard skin she laid on.

"I remember not enjoying that shoot," Ria said as her eyes followed his. " _This_ one was much better." with a flip, she revealed a page filled with the products of advertisements and fashion portraits. "This one. Here." she pointed to a photo in the center.

She stood in front of a plain white backdrop, a white dress hardly covering her. Four leopards surrounded her, each one staring at the camera, completely obedient. Each wore a diamond collar but no leash, and each collar had a different pendant hanging from it. Ria was holding a cigarette Inbetween her manicured fingers, her other hand resting on her thigh.

"Must've sold a lotta smokes," Victor commented.

"Everything I endorsed sold." Ria said as she let go of the photo album and laid back against him.

"The Leopard, huh?" He asked as he stretched out on his back. She went with him, flipping over to lay on her stomach on top of him.

"Yes sir."

"Think I remember that name."

"Everybody knew my name."

"In a good way, or a bad way?" Victor asked, raising an eyebrow.

She propped herself up with a hand under her chin and smiled mischievously at him. "The Leopard got around." Ria closed her eyes. "I remember going to a lot of parties, and I don't know how half of them ended. It was wild."

"Never was one for parties." Victor grunted.

"I figured. You don't seem like you'd be a huge fan of the kind of places I spent most of my time."

Ria just nodded. "So...tell me something."

Her mate only grunted again in encouragement.

"Why don't you talk about your family?"

"Jimmy's all I got left." Victor said emotionlessly. "We stuck together...shit, for a long time. I took care of the runt."

"He's a runt?"

"Always thought so."

"If you were so close, then why hasn't he visited?"

"We parted ways a while back." Victor wrapped his arms around Ria. "He's been spendin' his time in New York as far as I know."

"Can I meet him?"

A low growl rose in Victor's chest and he tensed. Jimmy was too handsome, too good with women, too good at _everything,_ to meet her. "Don't think so, frail."

She frowned. "Why? He's your brother."

" _Runt_ brother." Victor corrected.

"...right. _Runt brother."_ Ria looked at her grouchy tiger curiously. "Are you afraid of something happening?"

"No." he snapped all too quickly.

A tiny smile pulled at the edges of her lips. "Are you afraid that I would like him more than I like you?"

He hissed in response, picking his head up to meet her gaze with his teeth bared and his eyes narrowed. "Wouldn't matter if you did anyways. I'd rip his spine out if he touched you."

"Then why are you so worried?" she scooted a few inches closer to his face. "I'm stuck with you, Victor. There's no getting rid of me now, no matter how much you want to."

She felt his muscles loosen slightly as some of the tension left them. They had been in each other's company for long enough now that she was only just beginning to accurately gauge his reactions to things like this, and that companionship coupled with her knowledge of big, dumb male ferals told her that he was jealous of his brother and feeling threatened by the possibility of Jimmy sweeping Ria off her feet.

She was flattered that someone liked her enough to worry about her running off with their brother, but she was also getting the feeling that this was something that was going to become a frequent issue. Victor was easily upset and clearly prone to jealousy, and until she found a way to prove that she truly did believe him when he said she belonged to him, she was going to have to put up with him constantly keeping a firm grip on her shoulder.

"Victor?" she asked when he didn't make any reply. He was just looking at her, half in challenge. "Victor, do you believe that I'm your mate?"

"Of course." he scoffed and nodded towards the ugly scar on her neck. "I made it that way."

"But do you believe that we're in this together?"

He was silent for a long, hard moment, just looking at her with his lip raised in a sneer. His expression slowly became softer, though, and after a few seconds, he had relaxed and seemed to be laying comfortably again. "Yes."

"I don't want you to doubt me, Victor." Ria said firmly.

"I don't. I just...don't want you thinkin' you can run off on me. I don't want you thinkin' there's anybody better than me."

"There are dozens of people that are better than you," Ria snorted. "But that doesn't mean anything. That's just life." she smiled softly, reaching up to brush her fingers over his cheek. "Do you remember what I told you on that first day we met?"

"Yes," Victor answered immediately. He didn't think he would ever forget that day. "What about it?"

"I wanted to stay with you," Ria said. "I didn't ask you to let me go. I didn't tell you I didn't want to be your mate. My body has decided it's time to sit down and do what I was made to do, and if that involves you, then I'm not leaving. This is...well." She was beginning to feel foolish. "I'm ready to live with you in your territory. I'm...oh god, this sounds so fucking dumb…"

Victor was beginning to perk up. "No, keep talkin'."

"I'm…" her face was growing pink. "I don't know, I just...want...look. It seems like everybody's after me now. I need help staying alive. At first staying with you was just logical, but now there's something more. I've _liked_ living with you like this. And I like _you._ And maybe it's just all the hormones making me say it, but I want to stick with you and make vicious little feral babies-"

"Frail," Victor said.

"-and have a little family, and do what...we're...supposed to…." she trailed off, trying to ignore the pink in her cheeks as Victor stared at her.

"Frail." he said quietly, his voice little more than a rumble in his chest. "We will."

She seemed to ignore him. "There's no avoiding it anyway, right? So...god, I sound so fucking stupid."

"Ria," Victor moved a hand to cup the side of her face. "It ain't stupid. But you're overthinkin' this."

She narrowed her eyes quizzically. "How?"

"We're mates. We're gonna do what mates do."

"Fuck and reproduce?"

He snorted. "Yeah, that." he let go of her face to grab the photo they had pulled out of the album. "Don't exactly look like a mother in this."

"I'll never look like one." Ria said, picturing Mary and wrinkling her nose. "Doesn't change the fact that I want to have your cubs."

Victor smirked. "You will."

Ria sighed and rolled off of him. "If I even still can."

Victor snarled. "You think those lab coats…?"

"I don't know. They might've fucked things up enough that...I mean, what if they did something that couldn't be fixed?"

"Everythin' is fine, doll. Everythin' healed. You're good." Victor rolled onto his side and pulled Ria up against him.

"Right," she said, not even half convinced. "Of course."

"You don't believe me."

"I...no. Not really." She sighed again, the breath coming out slightly shaky. "Everything feels so weird. Like...before I was caught, I thought I wanted to keep dancing. You know, lie low for a while and then find a way to get famous again. Or something. I didn't want to be with anybody or anything like that. Like...I was lonely, but it was kind of okay, you know? I had flings. I knew people."

Victor pressed a kiss against the back of her neck in response. He understood loneliness. He was good at living alone, but at the same time, it could be unbearable, and not even on a sexual level; sometimes, you just needed someone to _talk_ to, someone to just _be there_ in the same place you were. He wasn't proud to admit that Jimmy's recent absence had left him a bit bored and, yeah, lonely.

"And then just...spending so much time in that _place._ It just fucked me up. It made me need to be with someone I could trust. I was so isolated, and it made me so fucking anxious and scared all the time." She squeezed her eyes shut. "And I guess with them trying to...you know. I guess it made me want it too, sort of. And then I guess meeting you made me want it more."

"Spots, why're you explainin' all this?"

She paused for a second. "I guess I'm trying to make it make sense to me. Saying it out loud helps a little, you know?"

"You should sleep," Victor said, rubbing his thumb over the exposed skin on her hip.

"I can't sleep." Ria snapped. "Can't you tell I'm distraught?"

"I know you are. You'll feel better in the morning." he laid his head down next to hers and kissed her ear.

"Fine. I'll try. But you can't be telling me that you're going to sleep this early, Mr. All-I-Need-Is-Two-Hours-A-Night."

"I'm going to stay up." he grumbled.

"And do what?"

"Keep an eye on things."

Ria _humphed_ and adjusted herself to get comfy. "Whatever. No promises that I'll even be able to sleep."

"You will, frail."

And within just a few minutes, Ria's breathing had evened out and deepened, and Victor began hearing her soft snores. This sort of thing had happened before; she would argue and get extremely cross, fighting with him in an almost childish way, before ultimately just passing out from the exhaustion he knew she was experiencing but that she was trying to ignore. Every time it happened, he would stay awake a bit longer than usual to keep an eye on her before allowing himself to settle down and sleep too, and then in the morning, he was usually the first one awake. If Ria _did_ wake up before him, though, he was always extremely grumpy and borderline dangerous. Well, he was always grumpy and borderline dangerous-no, not even borderline, just flat out dangerous-but a sleepy sabretooth was not a happy one, no matter who was doing the waking.

Victor waited up, listening to the sounds of the house, the street outside, and the quiet rain that started up. It was much different from the noise of the forest, especially since it was spring now. All of the scents around him were different, too, and it was off putting. He prided himself on his survival skills-he could handle anything, after all, but this urban life was...not quite his speed. He had fought in cities. He had spent a few nights at a time in cities. But he had never really lived in a city, and he wasn't planning to, what with the only wildlife being raccoons that went through trash cans. He was really starting to miss the irritating bears, and it had only been two days that he and Ria had been away from home.

He stifled a sigh and closed his eyes, burying his face in his mate's hair. He hoped she was happy that they had gone on this trip, because at least then it wouldn't have been for nothing. Hopefully she was happy enough that they wouldn't ever have to come back and they could just forget those humans forever.

That was a stretch, and he knew it. A man could dream, though, and in his dreams, he and Ria were alone, living in the cabin, happy and free of humans. Well, they would be alone at first, but eventually those cubs _were_ going to happen, and then Victor would have more than just himself and his mate to provide and care for. He could do it, though; like he kept telling himself, he was the biggest, strongest thing around. He was confident. Nothing could touch him or Ria or their unborn, currently nonexistent offspring.

His dreams that night were good.


	8. Night Terrors

Ria's dreams that night were not good.

They started out alright; she and Victor were back at home, making love, the usual. Her mate was being uncharacteristically gentle, and that's how she knew it was a dream. Victor was never a soft lover; in all of her dreams, and in reality, he sank his fangs into her, he raked his claws down her, he forced the breath out of her body when he threw her down onto the bed or against a wall. But this was different from all that, and while she wished it were real, she knew by that tell-tale sign that it definitely wasn't. He ghosted his fingers along her, his claws retracted as far as they could go, and then he peppered kisses down her neck and torso, not even biting her once.

His movements were slow and soft, and Ria savored it as much as her dream-self could. His fingers left her skin tingling in their wake, his kisses so small and chaste that they felt more like butterfly wings fluttering over her. She felt so perfect, so at peace, so sure of everything. Nothing in her life had been so wonderful-but, as with most wonderful things, it wasn't real. It probably would never be that way with Victor and the Sabretooth inside of him.

Everything felt so delicious, though, in that way that only wet dreams could. Ria found herself aching for him, a feeling she was getting used to lately, and as his fingers traveled lower and his tongue followed, she heard herself moan. Did she do that out loud? Part of her hoped so. Whatever little bit of her was still awake wanted Victor to hear what he did to her, how he tortured her even in her sleep. As she grew warmer and warmer, heat spreading between her legs, she could feel her muscles tightening and bunching in a way that she had been expecting. She was enveloped in pleasure, the delightful sensation of an oncoming orgasm dancing just on the horizon at the edge of her mind. Everything felt so good, so wonderful, until then-

The lights above her were so bright that they were making her head hurt as she squinted up. Of course she wouldn't be allowed to finish the best dream in her entire life. Blinding lights had to come in instead and wake her the fuck up.

Who the fuck turned them on? Was it Tim? Mary? Was she even still in their house? No...where the fuck was she? She couldn't feel Victor next to her. Where had he gone? She was asking too many questions. He probably just went downstairs for a snack. There were still a lot of uneaten bags of gluten free chips in the kitchen. He was a big guy and he ate a lot, so that made sense.

Ria sighed. She never got to finish her wet dreams. The slight tingle creeping up her spine encouraged her to find Victor, though. He rarely left her alone. What if something was going on? She had to go downstairs and see.

When she tried to sit up, however, she found that she couldn't, and as the wheels in her foggy brain began turning, she realized that she was strapped down. It was a familiar feeling, and one that never used to bring any fear, only dismay. Things had changed, though, and now her heart was speeding up and pounding in her chest. This was the place she feared the most.

 _No, no, no…_

How was she back in the lab? This was wrong, all wrong, everything about it...where was Victor? He promised she would never go back...or had she imagined that? No. She hadn't. She knew she hadn't. Her time with Victor had been real, that much she knew, and something had to have happened to him to land her back in this place. Something while she was sleeping? Had she been knocked out?

Had she been dreaming the whole time?

As her eyes finally adjusted, she saw that she was in an all white room. She couldn't see a door or any windows. There was no way out, and she was beginning to panic. It was all so disgustingly sterile and despairingly hopeless. It was the kind of place children always imagined the doctor's office to be like; a big, pearly room, no fun posters on the walls about the flu or mono, the constant feeling of impending doom seeping out of every corner.

Ria would do anything to leave this place, just like she had last time, and no matter how she got back here, she was going to get out. There was always a way, however tricky it was, and she was going to find it. That was the only thing that would keep her semi-calm-the knowledge that she had managed it before and she was going to manage it again. Nobody could really contain the leopard, and despite Victor's late interference last time she escaped, she had done all the rest on her own. She was going to be fine.

That's what she kept telling herself, at least.

A scraping sound made her turn her head to the wall directly opposite her as a well-hidden door opened. Two people walked in, one of them pushing a cart in front of her. Ria recognized them as a nurse and doctor. Neither of them had any distinguishable facial features, just an unsettling...blankness. Ria knew that they had faces-there was a nose, and a couple eyes on each-but she couldn't read any kind of emotion on them. There was just...nothing. They were like crash test dummies.

"So good to see you back here, 213," the doctor said as he approached Ria. His voice was just as unsettling as his not-face. It was lacking in tone and yet full of a poorly masked hostility. "We've missed you."

"Go fuck yourself," she hissed, straining against the straps that held her down.

"Ah-ah," he tutted. "I wouldn't struggle if I were you."

"Why the fuck not?"

He reached for the cart the retreating nurse had delivered and picked up a syringe filled with a light blue liquid, flicking it a few times. "Seems you've been busy while you were gone, my dear. You did all of our work for us."

"What are you-"

"Shh. You know the routine."

Ria felt a needle prick her arm and turned her head away. She couldn't believe this was happening. Yes, she knew the routine. Needle prick, conversation, maybe another prick or three and then the knives. It was always the same.

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" she heard him put the syringe back onto the cart and pick something else up. "But we've worked together for so long. I can't lie to you. This is going to be much, _much_ worse."

Ria felt cold steel on her stomach and whipped her head around to look. Her belly was swollen, a big balloon that must have housed some little, living thing. Her jaw fell and she furrowed her brow in confusion. How in the fuck had that happened? Well, she knew how it _happened,_ but the fact that she couldn't remember anything about it didn't make any sense. How long had she been out of it?

"What…?" she asked nobody in particular.

"We're lucky we found you in time." the doctor said, tracing the blade down the length of her baby bump, only pressing hard enough to draw blood. "I would have been rather disappointed if I had to train toddlers."

"Get away from me!" Ria screamed.

The doctor continued, unfazed. "That mate of yours wasn't too easy to subdue. But don't worry; we're keeping him alive for the time being. He'll prove to be useful, especially if this litter survives. You should be grateful that he's here."

"Why?"

"Well, as long as he's here, we've no reason to continue the IVF or AI sessions. You'll be permitted occasional visits. And, assuming all goes well, we won't need to risk anyone's health by pairing you with another male. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Ria was burning with a fiery rage that combated the icy fear spreading through her veins...or was that whatever serum he injected? She couldn't tell. All she knew was she hated this man, this place, everything that was happening to her. He was trying to take her babies away. He was trying to bribe her with Victor.

Nobody was going to do that.

"Don't touch me!" she screeched, kicking and twisting desperately, pulling with all her strength.

"If you relax, this will be much easier."

"No!"

The doctor paused. He seemed more exasperated than anything. "If you don't cooperate, I'll be forced to put that big male down."

She froze. "You wouldn't."

"We have plenty of others, 213. The only special one here is _you_. I'd hate to get rid of him, I really would. He's our trophy. But if you don't comply, well…"

She felt tears stinging at her eyes. "Don't make me choose."

"Unfortunately, I have to."

Ria felt those tears leave her eyes, streaming down her face as she began to cry. The knife pressed deeper into her belly, closer to her babies, and all she could feel was pain, both inside and out. She didn't want this. He couldn't do this to her. Images of her future children living in cells like imprisoned animals, being fed scraps of tainted food like she had been, training to kill humans and mutants alike, all flashed through her mind. She would never get to hug them, or kiss their cuts and bruises, or teach them anything that she knew. They probably wouldn't allow her to see them ever again.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stay quiet as whimpers threatened to leave her throat. The quieter she was, the safer everyone would be. At least her cubs would survive, and Victor would stay in whatever dark, rotting cage they had thrown him into. They would suffer. The cubs would never know a different life, and Victor would be broken, and Ria would just do the same thing over and over again like they had tried to make her do last time.

But they would all be alive.

More pain exploded all over her, making her head spin and a scream rip through her just as the knife tore downwards as the crude cesarean was performed. Another, smaller cry echoed her, and as she looked up to see the bloody mess she had become, she caught a glimpse of the nurse holding something that seemed to be alive and moving. Ria screamed again, in pain and sorrow and now for her child while the doctor just continued working to grab the next one, and the emotions Ria felt were like nothing before. The tears rushed down her cheeks, blurring her vision as she called and cried and shrieked. They were taking them away. Her tiny, helpless babies. The most important things in her life, the very axis on which her whole world rotated.

They were gone.

With one last scream, her eyes finally snapped open, only to find a very concerned Victor leaning over her. He had a clawed hand on her shoulder, holding her down as she thrashed in fear and fury.

"Frail, it's fine." he said in his grumbly way, worry tinting his voice. "It was just a nightmare. You're okay."

She pushed him away and sat up. "Wh-where am I?"

"You're with me." he grabbed her and pulled her against him. "It was just a dream."

"H-he was going to kill you," she blubbered, reaching up to wipe the very real tears from her face.

Victor wrapped his arms around her. "Who was?"

"The doctor, he was-he was going to kill you. I-it was you or he was going to take them. I couldn't...I tried…."

"Who's them?"

She took a shuddery breath. "Cubs." she buried her face against his bare chest. She heard his heart leap for a moment. "He ripped them out. I watched, I saw them-"

Victor said nothing and just held her, squeezing her tightly and rocking them both back and forth. "Nobody's takin' anyone." he said finally, mumbling against her hair. "I won't let 'em."

The door suddenly flew open and Ria jumped as light from the hallway flooded into the room. Victor let loose a snarl as Mary's silhouette appeared, Ellen popping her head in to see what was going on. "Ria?"

"J-just a nightmare," Ria answered, turning her head to look at them. As feeling returned to her body, she became aware of the sticky coating of sweat that covered her skin. "I'm fine."

"Oh, thank God." Mary said, putting a hand over her heart. "Do you need anything? Water?"

Ria shook her head and then leaned back against Victor again. "It's okay. Really."

Her adoptive mother was hesitant to leave. "Well...if you're sure...I'll be next door if you need anything."

With that she left, nightgown swishing down the hall. Ellen took her place in the doorway, watching the mutants curiously. "Can I come in?"

"You already did, kid." Victor said, half grouchy and half amused.

"Oh. Right." She shuffled over to sit awkwardly on the bed, seeming unsure of how close she should get. "You sure you don't want anything?"

"No." Ria said, voice muffled as she shoved her face into Victor's chest.

"We have those cookies you like so much," Ellen pressed. "The kind with the sprinkles…"

Ria sniffled and peeked out at her. "No. My stomach is knotty."

"What happened?"

"I already said it was a nightmare!" She snapped.

Victor growled quietly, the sound barely more than a rumble vibrating in his chest. "Everything's fine now."

Ria inhaled as if she were going to yell, pause, and then let out a shuddery breath. "I...need to use the bathroom." She detached herself from Victor and shuffled out of the room, hugging herself as she made her way down the hall.

Victor and Ellen watched her go and an awkward silence fell over them.

"So...I guess it must have been pretty bad." Ellen said, looking down at her hands and wringing them together. "To scare her like that."

"It was." Victor replied.

"Ria's never scared. She's the bravest person I know." the girl paused. "Victor...you know a lot of mutants, right?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I do."

"What kinds?"

He shrugged. "A lot." What was she leading up to with this?

"Have you ever...met anybody who can leave their body?" she laughed nervously. "I-I had a dream about it, that's all."

"I might've at some point." Victor said, still staring at her with those narrowed, predatory eyes. "Why?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." she looked up at him. "Can you promise that you'll take care of her?"

"Ria?"

"Yeah. She's my sister...I was so upset when she disappeared, and now that she's back again, I can't even imagine losing her again." Ellen began blinking away some tears as quickly as she could, glancing away from Victor again. "A-and everybody else here feels the same, so...please…"

"You think I won't watch out for my own mate?" Victor growled. "That's an insult, kid."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I just want to make sure." she balled her hands into fists, pressing them against the bed. "I care about her a lot. She taught me so much, and before she vanished, she always made sure I didn't have any bullies, and she helped me study, and she taught me to dance...she's really important to me, okay?"

"I understand."

Ellen let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Good. Thank you."

Victor raised an eyebrow. "Anythin' else you feel like yellin' at me about?"

"I-I wasn't yelling!"

"But you wanted to, didn't you?"

"No!"

"It's okay to say yes." Victor said. "A tiny frail like you, talkin' back to me? It'll get you in trouble, but it's good to see you're brave."

She smiled a tiny bit. "I'm really not…"

"Lucky I'm so forgivin' or else you'd be eatin' that attitude."

Her smile widened, and Victor was honestly a bit confused. Was he actually making her feel better somehow? He wasn't used to that, especially with children...not that he had much experience with them. It seemed like Ellen was growing comfortable with him, though, and...well, he really wasn't sure how he felt about that. The only person who had ever been comfortable around him was Jimmy, and, he supposed, Ria, but she had to be. Mutants and humans alike generally weren't fans of the Sabretooth, and it had never bothered Victor much. He understood why they were afraid, and he liked keeping things that way, but maybe he was growing too soft if this girl liked him.

"You're scary, but not _that_ scary." Ellen said as soft footsteps sounded in the hall, signaling Ria's return. "You're probably a big softie, aren't you?"

Victor snarled as quietly as he could. "I ain't a-"

"Victor," Ria said, hushing him as she crawled into bed, "don't use that tone with family. It's rude."

She seemed much more at peace than before, and as Ellen said goodnight and Victor laid back down with his mate, he, too, began to feel some semblance of serenity falling over him. He pulled Ria up against him, both arms wrapped around her small frame, and buried his face in the crook of her neck so that all he could smell was _her._ That sweet, fruity, frozen smell that could only belong to one person in the entire world: his mate.


	9. And The Bees

As Ria opened her eyes to take in the cabin interior on a temperate, early summer day, she noticed a few things; birds were chirping, singing lovely songs to one another just outside the window; it had rained the night before, judging by the scent of wet sod and wood; there was a bear bumbling around in the distance, crashing through the forest loudly enough that she could hear it a mile away; and, finally, Ria noticed that she was extremely, without a doubt, _insatiably_ horny.

That could only mean one thing.

She shifted, stretching out her limbs in a way that was practically orgasmic. Being in heat always felt so _good,_ like those moments right before an unconquerable itch was finally scratched, but that was just it: it was the moments _before._ It was the feeling of _almost_ fixed, _nearly_ finished, _not quite there but trying._ It was beautiful, and empowering, but also frustrating beyond belief.

When she moved, Victor had reached out for her, sensing her absence. She had slept pressed up against his side, like she did every night, and ever since her horrifying night terror the week before, her big mate had clung to her whenever she was asleep. There were times when she woke up because she couldn't _breathe._ Thankfully, her nightmares hadn't returned since they got back home, and she considered that to be one tiny victory. She was going to need her sleep in the coming days, and recurring nightmares about labs and doctors slicing her up wouldn't help her get any rest at all.

Victor's giant paw of a hand collided with Ria's side, claws stinging as they cut into her naked flesh. The sensation made his eyes flutter, but with a soft growl, he was asleep again. He had to be _really_ tired to not be waking up because of her scent by that point, because Ria could smell herself and she _reeked._ Come to think of it, maybe that's why that bear was so much closer than he usually was. Maybe he was curious. If he was smart, he wouldn't get much closer, though; Ria guessed that as soon as Victor woke up and figured out what was happening, he was going to be much more possessive than usual, and he wouldn't hesitate to kill a bear if it got too close. Ria would make sure he didn't, of course. Innocent bears didn't need to get tangled up in feral business.

She looked down at his sleeping face and smiled. He even looked grouchy while unconscious. Carefully, she ran the back of her hand over his cheek, lightly brushing her fingers over his skin. He twitched in response, reaching for her again, and this time she complied, sliding up next to him and pressing herself flush against his chest. He growled again, a bit louder, and as Ria's skin came into contact with his, she felt like she might catch fire. Every little bit of friction, every rub against him, every gentle brush of her naked body against his was waking her up more and more and setting all of her nerves off.

"Victor," she crooned in his ear, a hand traveling down his arm.

"Hm?" he grunted sleepily.

"Wake up, darling."

His eyes cracked open and she saw his nose twitch. Her lips curled into a grin as she watched him wake up, nostrils flaring as he tried to recognize the pungent heat-scent that was enveloping him. When he finally figured it out, his eyes shot open and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her firmly up against him while his claws pressed into her back.

"Ria," he breathed against her neck.

"Yes?"

"You're mine." with a loud snarl he pulled her on top of him, hands on her ass while he pushed his morning wood against her stomach. Her body responded eagerly, already slick and sweet and sticky and ready for him as he made her ride him, hands moving up to squeeze her breasts while her own fingers gripped his chest. Her claws drew blood, but neither of them paid any attention; over the next few days, they were probably going to be doing far greater damage to each other. Ria had even heard stories that back in the day, males would occasionally kill their females during sex.

Her face was flushed and she was sweaty by the time Victor came and filled her with warmth, but she had barely rolled off of him to service herself-figuring that he would be done for a while and she would be left alone to keep herself occupied until he was ready again-before he grabbed her by the hair and shoved her face down against the bed, mounting her from behind and fucking her until she felt her own juices running down her thighs and she was panting and begging for him to stop.

He did, but only briefly.

They spent all morning fucking, breaking only for food and the bathroom. With each round, Ria only felt her frustration rising, and by midday, she had had just about enough of having her face shoved down against the bed.

As Victor went to push her down again, one hand on the back of her neck and the other at her hip, Ria twisted with a hiss and dug her claws into his chest. He paused in surprise as she faced him, wondering what exactly had changed so suddenly, but he didn't have much of a chance to do anything before she had a hand at his throat and was shoving him down onto his back.

Victor snarled as she climbed on top of him. He didn't mind her riding him-he enjoyed it, in fact, because he got to watch her-but he definitely didn't like her thinking she was in charge. He wasn't going to go belly up for her like this, heat or not.

He knew that she liked to test him, to see how far he would let her go, but she always backed off once he asserted himself. He didn't expect her to snarl back, fangs mere inches from his face as she lowered herself into him and he felt himself push up deep inside of her. He went to flip them over so that he could be on top, but her hand flashed to grip his throat, claws digging into his skin. This was a side of her that he definitely wasn't used to seeing, and he figured her heat was bringing it out. So he growled but complied, making sure to hold her hips tightly enough that he left bruises.

The sex was pure ecstasy for both. They exchanged very little words, both too distracted and lost in each other to be bothered with much foreplay or pillow talk. It was a euphoric feast, wherein both ferals were allowed to indulge their primal sides and they became more animal than ever before. Ria shrieked and Victor roared, both clawing each other up as if they were at war.

In a way, they were; their normal power struggle was amped up, egged on by the pheromones that hung in the air. Ria constantly tried to put herself in charge, vicious snaps and snarls her only real weapon against the much stronger Victor. He would use his weight to pin her against the wall or bed or floor, and if she couldn't get away quickly enough, she was stuck underneath him like that until he let her go.

When her feral mind took over, Ria was the furthest from herself that she had ever been. She focused on one thought at a time, mental tunnel vision forcing her to remain occupied with the task at hand, no matter what that might be. It allowed her to be precise and deliberate in every movement, yet she didn't care. She wanted to be free, to be wild, to shriek and snarl and completely let herself loose. That's what it meant to be feral.

She alternated between hating Victor, despising the way he threw her around as if she were a plaything, and loving him for the way he made her feel, the way he looked and smelled, and the way he dominated her. Between rounds, she would swipe at him, claws slashing his flesh and drawing blood, but as soon as he had her underneath him, she could think of nowhere else she would rather be.

They spent the rest of the day like that, fucking without speaking, only really talking to each other when they ate. Ria was impossible to satisfy, but Victor was able to keep up, thankfully, encouraged by the scent of her fertility and arousal. He couldn't last forever, though; he was, though he nearly wasn't, mortal, and he had to rest at some point.

When they finally stopped for the night, he forced her to hold still and lay down next to him, both covered in each other's sweat and panting hard. Ria pressed a lazy kiss to Victor's lips, softer than anything else she had done that day, and he responded just as gently. They went to bed happy that night, tangled up in each other, desperate for as much skin on skin contact as possible.

Then they woke up and did it all over again.

The heat lasted five days. It wasn't Ria's longest, nor was it the shortest, but it was the best, and when it was over, she was very, very happy to wake up feeling like herself. She had clawed and bitten at Victor the entire week, relentlessly mauling him as he did the same to her. The difference was that she could use her full strength and not seriously maim him, while he was forced to hold back to avoid killing her.

It was on the final night that Ria did what she had said she would back in the motel. When she had once again had enough of Victor suffocating her against various surfaces, she gathered all of her might and threw him into the wall. He protested with a series of extremely angry snarls, but in a flash, she was at his throat, lips ghosting over his sensitive skin. She ran her tongue along the side of his neck, feeling his pulse, and when she finally grew bored of this, she pulled him onto the floor and climbed over him. She had chosen the spot she wanted.

He was transfixed. He knew he should be resisting, but she was so dangerous, so beautiful, as she sat on him, ass rubbing against his cock as her lips returned to his throat. With a loud moan, he thrust up towards her, and she smirked before lowering herself onto him.

They both moaned, and as Victor sped up, Ria stayed bent over him, lightly biting him. But the harder his thrusts became, the more dearly she had to hang on for life, and she sank her teeth deeper and deeper into him until she was whining against his skin and she was covered in his blood.

When she came and he followed shortly after, everything was completed. She had marked him deeply enough that it wouldn't heal, and they were bonded forever. It was a big, ugly mark, just like the one he had given her, albeit a little smaller. When he washed the blood off, he even winced a tiny bit, and Ria was amazed that she had caused him pain. It made her feel a little guilty, knowing that it was her fault that his neck was sore, but at the same time, she didn't care. He had done the same to her.

To celebrate, Victor killed a few geese and was nice enough to drive to town for extra food so that they could cook what Ria called "real food." She slept while he was gone, regaining strength after such a demanding week, and when she woke up, she was greeted by the smells of food actually _cooking._

"I didn't know you could cook," she commented with a yawn as she sat up. Despite her powerful healing factor, she was still sore from their last night of fun, and bed was where she intended to stay until she could walk without hunching over.

"I can do lots of things, Spots." Victor answered gruffly from the kitchenette.

"Oh, I know." She purred. "You showed me."

He glanced at her. "Anythin' stand out in particular?"

"Actually...that thing you did outside, against the tree? I liked that a _lot._ "

The big male smirked. "Thought you would."

Ria smiled and stretched out on the bed. "What happens now?"

"We wait." He answered as he walked over to her. "Gotta ask you somethin' though, frail…"

"What?" She moved over for him to lay next to her.

He leaned over her, taking a strand of hair in his fingers and looking at it as if he were avoiding her eyes. "What would you say...if I told you I loved you?" He finally looked her in the eyes.

Ria blinked. She knew he had some kind of feelings for her; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so nice all this time. But love...she hadn't thought that was something he felt. He was so violent, so angry and rough. He had taken her with the intention of mating, not for love. But...apparently she was wrong.

"I…" She looked down at the small space between them. Something in her chest fluttered. "I would say that I did too."

Victor let out a big breath and pressed his forehead against hers, smiling in relief. Ria closed her eyes and returned the smile, pecking a quick kiss to his lips. In that one moment, everything was perfect.

"Do you think we...you know." She said as he pulled away to look at her.

"You're havin' my cubs." He growled, almost threateningly.

"You don't know that for sure." Ria argued.

"Darlin'." He almost glared at her. "We just fucked for a week straight."

"I guess I'm just...nervous. A little."

"It's all gonna be fine, spots." He began rubbing small circles on her back. "I gotta confess somethin', though." He looked away from her eyes, and a tiny pang of terror struck her. "I...ain't exactly the type of man who knows how to raise anythin'."

The panic dissipated and Ria smiled gently, utterly relieved that that's all he was worried about. "This was your idea, big guy. I think you can figure it out."

"I was young when I left home, frail. I...well. Wasn't exactly close with my parents. We finally left when Jimmy killed one of 'em. Ever since, it's been war, and killing...never making life, just takin' it away." He exhaled sharply. "I've done horrible things, spots. Things no man who wants to call himself a father should do. I lose control in the bloodlust, I...can't be stopped. I'm an animal, a monster. I ain't exactly a big teddy bear."

"You are to me." Ria moved a hand to the side of his face, holding it gently. "You're going to do fine. You'll be a big, scary, tough daddy tiger."

He was quiet for another moment. "What if...what if it isn't one of us?"

"You think it'll be human?" She frowned. "I don't think it could be…"

"Mutants come from human parents. It could work backwards, too. How're we s'posed to raise a _human?"_

"Victor." Ria said firmly. "We don't even know if there's anything yet. Why don't we wait and see before getting all freaked out over nothing?"

"Right." He didn't seem convinced, but he sat up anyway. "Let's have some of this _real_ food, 'fore I change my mind about it."


	10. Changes

Ria felt miserable. She was nauseous beyond belief, about ready to pass out, and had already emptied her stomach. Her back was hurting from slumping over the toilet, and as she finally felt the headache lifting, she wondered how exactly she was supposed to tell Victor.

It had been a good month since her heat ended, and things had been...boring. They took walks through the forest, skinny dipping in the river on especially hot days, and Victor still refused to let her out of his sight. She helped him when he did work on the cabin or when he hunted, and he had allowed her to plant a small garden using seeds she bought the last time he drove her into town.

During that same trip, she had, unbeknownst to him, gotten two pregnancy tests that she was about to take. She really didn't know why she wanted to hide them from him; after all, he had been the entire reason she was in this toilet predicament and he was clearly aware of the possibility of children, but for some reason she was...shy? Embarrassed? She wasn't sure, but she wanted to do this in private, and that was that.

Buying the tests had been a small struggle. It was hard enough to sneak away from Victor, and when she had, she was forced to deal with the middle aged cashier.

"I've seen you before, miss." The woman had said, somewhat condescendingly. "With that... _man."_

"Yes," Ria said, trying not to let her irritation show already. "We're...engaged."

"Out of wedlock, I see." She tutted as she scanned the little boxes. "With a shady character."

"Don't you have something better to do than berate me?" Ria growled.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "You even sure it's his? I've seen the way the men in this town look at you, girlie. And I know you're one of... _them."_

"Why do you care?" Ria snapped.

"I don't." She sniffed. "I only care about this town, and what you're bringing in ain't something to be proud of."

With that, rather than start a fight, Ria threw the money at her, snatched up the bag, and marched out to find a very flustered Victor.

Now, as she peeled herself up off the toilet, she grabbed one of the tests from the corner of the cupboard she had stashed it in and opened it. Now or never. She sucked in a breath, made sure that there was no puke left in the toilet, and did what she had to do.

Then all she had to do was wait nervously and hope that Victor was still asleep and wouldn't be barging in. She tapped her foot, unable to stay still as the seconds ticked by and and entire eons passed. How long was this supposed to take, exactly?

When the time was up, she dared to peek at the stick, and what she saw made her breath catch in her throat.

Positive.

"Fuck," she squeaked to herself. Should she even bother using the second one? Wasn't this supposed to be super accurate anyways? Oh, God, what was she going to do?

Panic was setting in. She had known this would happen, but now that it was actually happening, she was terrified. There was something inside her. Something that was supposed to be there. Something _alive._

She was a parent.

Her hands were shaky. Her breath was coming in short gasps. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt like she was going to be sick again. It was okay, though, right? She was fine, totally fine. This was what she wanted. Right? This was the point of heat, of being a female feral, of being a rare mutant...she was supposed to do this. She was an animal. Animals set out to reproduce. It was going to be okay. She was one of the rarest things on earth, and she had to create more ferals so that they couldn't go exist. It was her job, her duty to the mutant world.

She had to tell Victor. She had to...somehow. What was he going to do? He would be happy, right? Right. This is what he had wanted. This had been the plan from the beginning. They were mates.

They were parents.

Or were they?

She took the second test to be sure. As she waited, she paced across the small bathroom, her limbs tingly and shaky. Everything was going to be different now. Her life had changed so many times over the decades, but now...this was probably the biggest one. The biggest difference. The scariest adventure.

She dared to look at the second pregnancy test, and it read the same as the first. With a sigh, she grabbed both of them and pushed the bathroom door open, quietly and slowly shuffling toward the bed.

Victor was waking up already after realizing that Ria wasn't next to him, and as he caught sight of her standing there in one of his shirts, he furrowed his brow.

"Somethin' wrong?" He asked.

She shook her head quickly and looked down, but otherwise didn't answer.

"Frail?"

She was still trying to figure out what to say. "I…"

He sat up. "Ria?"

She swallowed hard. "I-I'm…" She finally looked up at him. "I'm pregnant."

Victor's face dropped in shock, and Ria immediately assumed the worst. He was mad. He was angry. He had decided he didn't want a family, and now he was going to kick her out, or try to kill it, or kill her, or-

"Are you sure?" He asked quietly, his voice barely more than a rumble.

She nodded and held the tests out to him as proof. "I just took these…"

"...why didn't you tell me you bought those?"

"I...I dunno…" She shrugged meekly.

He stood and she shrank back, suddenly afraid of his huge form for the first time since they met. She was trembling as he crossed the small space between them and reached out to put a clawed hand on her arm, pulling her toward him. He could kill her so quickly. He could choke her or punch her hard enough to break her skull or slice her to ribbons. He had so much power, and she was starting to feel like she had none.

"Ria," he said gently, a tiny smile tugging at the edges of his mouth. "We did it."

Tears pricked her eyes as he pulled her into a tight hug, making her drop the pregnancy tests. They clattered against the floor as Victor picked her up, spinning her in a small circle before setting her down on the bed, a smile plastered across his face as he leaned over her.

"How many?"

She sniffed and wiped the tears away. "I don't know."

"Boy or girl?"

"I don't know!"

"You mean you can't tell?"

She laughed a tiny bit. "You're just being dumb now."

He pressed a kiss against her forehead and then looked down at her belly. "I hope...I hope there's a couple."

Ria paled slightly. "I don't know if I can handle more than one...I don't know if I can even handle _one."_

Victor beamed at her. "You'll be perfect, spots."

Then he got her some food, insisted that she eat before he did, and spent the rest of the day stuck to her side, asking her questions, nuzzling her, and sniffing her stomach to see if he could tell what it was. She didn't bother telling him that's not how fetuses worked and that he wouldn't be able to smell anything for a while.

Over the next month, her appetite grew, her morning sickness seemed to be fading away, and a small, but still present, baby bump was forming. She had more pleasant dreams than nightmares, and Victor busied himself with, as always, constantly checking on her. He didn't allow her to do very many things on her own, and as the days passed, he only got more and more clingy. It was to be expected, though; now he had more than one thing to protect.

She had never felt so loved before. Victor constantly greeted her with nuzzles, gently rubbing his cheek against hers in affection. She swore she even heard him chuff once, not that he would ever admit it. He was waiting on her hand and foot, and standing guard over her and the same time. He was bother servant and protector, father and soldier.

It was a hot, sticky night when Ria shot awake at the sound of something outside. Victor woke with a small growl after feeling her sudden movement, and as the sounds grew closer, he wrapped an arm around Ria. A scent drifted towards them and she hissed quietly, hoping that she was dreaming as she recognized it.

"It's them."

Victor didn't even have to ask to know who she was talking about. He rose as quietly as he could, grabbing a shirt and jeans and throwing a hoodie to Ria. She could hear the definite sounds of footsteps, several pairs of them, rushing towards the cabin from the woods. She couldn't tell how far they were, but based on their scent, they would be there in only a couple minutes.

"They're coming for me," she whimpered as Victor snatched his wallet and keys and grabbed her arm, pulling her to the door with him. She picked a satchel up on their way out, having packed it with necessities for trips into town, and slung it over her shoulder. She tried to keep calm, and reminded herself over and over in her mind that she had done this sort of thing dozens of times before.

But she had never been pregnant while on the run.

Victor opened the door as quietly as he could, hoping to slip away to the truck, but as they neared the vehicle he saw that the tires were slashed. How could he have let this happen? He was supposed to keep watch, and they had managed to slip right past him and-

Ria suddenly pulled him toward her, a bullet whizzing past a second later. The dark forms of soldiers were appearing out of the trees on the other side of the clearing, and with a loud snarl, Victor turned to challenge them.

"Victor, no." Ria commanded. "We have to leave."

"No. I'm gettin' rid of these shit stains."

"We have to run." Her voice was shaky.

"ON THE GROUND!" One of the soldiers shouted, gun raised.

Victor pushed Ria behind him and roared, claws fully extended.

"We're not doing this." Ria said. "We _have to go."_

Victor ignored her as a bullet sank into his chest. He couldn't leave her, but he couldn't drag her towards the conflict. As more and more soldiers crept out of the trees, he began calculating where he would go, and he was coming up with nothing.

"Run." He finally decided, turning and giving Ria a shove.

She happily obeyed, sprinting towards the road, Victor hot on her heels. The soldiers were shooting, some of them were yelling, and as Ria ran, she desperately hoped she wouldn't trip. She refused to let them catch her.

" _STOP!"_ A voice above them shouted. There was the telltale sound of helicopter blades, and when Ria dared to look up, she saw a chopper hovering above them. " _213, WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED."_

Victor snarled and pulled her into the trees, dropping to all fours and nudging her along. She did the same, not even feeling stupid as she ran with him, leaves and dirt caking under her hands. This was her worst nightmare. This was everything she had hoped would never happen. Just as life was getting okay again, _they_ had to ruin it.

" _THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD."_

No, no it wasn't.

"What do we do?" She panted.

They were running fast enough to get away from the foot soldiers, but if they couldn't shake them, the chopper would get them. They had no choice but to run until they couldn't anymore.

Ria felt her wrist twist as she ran over a tiny burrow, and had a thought. "Victor, f-find a fox hole you can fit in."

"What?" He snapped back at her.

"Trust me!"

He snarled and ran toward a hill, skidding to a stop in front of something that wasn't quite a fox hole.

All Ria could smell was bear.

"Knew this asshole would come in handy." Victor said as he righted himself and pulled Ria into what was undoubtedly a bear den. The bear in question was inside, and as the two mutants entered, gave a confused bellow that was quickly silenced with a snarl from Victor.

Ria had never been so close to a grizzly, and as she crouched down in the corner and forced herself to be quiet, she wondered if she was going to survive this detour. The bear was clearly upset and confused, grunting as it backed away from them in fear. Victor sat next to Ria, growling at their companion, but when the soldiers and helicopter sounded outside, he fell silent. The bear did, too, huddling itself in a corner as the sound of pounding footsteps came closer and closer.

When they stopped before the den entrance, Ria swore they would be able to hear her heart pounding, even with their hopefully human ears. They were lingering there, standing for far too long in one spot. They were going to find them, she knew it.

Her nightmare was going to come true.

Victor shot over to the bar and gave it a good whack across the snout, eliciting an angry roar that made the soldiers pause.

"Sounds like a grizzly, sir." One of them said.

"Of course we have to be in bear country." Another grumbled.

"There's no way a male feral would allow a bear to live in his territory. We've crossed the boundaries." One decided. "Circle back."

They withdrew and Ria breathed a sigh of relief, still not daring to move.

"Too close," Victor mumbled.

The bear grunted.

"Oh, shut up." He growled. "I did you a favor lettin' you stay here, bear."

"Can we just stay here for the night?" Ria asked hopefully.

"No. We have to get moving."

She sighed. "How? To where? They're going to be watching the roads. There isn't a safe spot around here."

"So we have to run." He said gruffly, moving outside and pulling her along.

"Again, to where?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I've got an idea."


	11. Desperate Times

It was a rainy Sunday morning when Logan woke up, greeted by the warm tones of his room in Xavier's school. He hadn't had any dreams that night, which he was grateful for, but still had an unsettling feeling in his gut. He could hear the students in the halls, stuck inside as quiet thunder rumbled overhead, and he decided that everything in the mansion was in order. So why did he have such a feeling of dread?

As he sat up and rubbed sleep from his eyes, he wondered what exactly was going on. Everything seemed to be fine. He stood and got dressed, opening his door and walking out into the hall a few moments later. One of the newest children bounced by, faltering as she glimpsed Logan.

"No running." He said when he realized he had nothing else up his sleeve.

She nodded quickly and looked at the floor. "Yes, Professor Logan."

Then she was off again, walking until she thought he couldn't see her. He was always awkward with the kids, especially the ones he didn't know. He had grown up with Victor. He didn't have much in the way of a nurturing instinct.

As he wandered the halls, he realized that everything was just...normal. He saw Kitty Pride at one point. He saw Ororo. They both just greeted him and continued on their way. At one point he caught a glimpse of Jean, but she was with Scott, and he growled to himself and turned on his heel. He wasn't going to let that asshole ruin his morning, especially with it going so well.

He went to the kitchen and got himself breakfast, enjoying it alone. One thing he had always liked about the mansion was its constant supply of good food. He had spent too many years living off of military meals or grabbing whatever he could find, and now that he was able to actually sit down and have a complete breakfast of sausage and eggs he almost didn't know what to do with himself.

As he was cleaning his plate, he heard a knock at the door and rolled his eyes. Someone else would get it. It wasn't his problem. He was now determined to enjoy his day, and that included ignoring almost everyone who tried to bother him. Even when he smelled fruit. Even when he heard a shout. Even when he heard Beast roar loud enough to shake the entire house.

Whatever. Hank had it covered.

...right?

The fruity smell twisted around him, and he wondered what exactly it was. Then another scent joined it, one that he hadn't been around in a _long_ time, and he finally groaned to himself in exasperation and anger.

"God _dammit!"_ He shouted to no one in particular, tearing out of the kitchen and towards the front door. Of course his god damn brother had to show up, out of nowhere, for probably no good reason, on what was _supposed_ to be a nice, rainy day off. Of course. Of fucking course.

He got to shove Scott out of the way as he ran, though, which was a plus.

When he reached the doors, it took a moment to take it all in. Victor had Beast pinned against a wall, both snarling at each other while clearly straining for control. A girl stood in the doorway, calmly watching the two as if this were normal, and as Logan approached her, Victor whipped his head around to snarl at him.

"Calm down," Logan snapped.

The girl had gray hair, lank and wet from the rain, and she was absolutely drenched. Her black hoodie seemed to be hanging off of her, weighed down with water, and she looked utterly exhausted. As he got closer, Logan realized that she was the source of the fruity smell, and kicked himself for not realizing sooner that it was the scent of a woman.

"Victor," she said sharply, her voice tired. "Let him go."

To Logan's surprise, Victor actually listened. Who was this girl that she could control his monster of a brother? So far, he had been the only one that could ever stop his rampages. But here was this tiny woman, soaked to the bone and clearly pissed off, ordering him around and actually getting _results._

"Come here." She snapped. As Victor withdrew from Beast, he gave her a reluctant look and she added, "my...back hurts?"

Despite the obvious cover up, Victor rushed to her side, behaving in a way that Logan had never seen before. His brother was dangerous, especially towards women, and whatever he had been doing to this girl had to be horrible.

It still didn't add up to why they were there, though.

"Victor," Logan growled, hands in fists at his side. He let his claws slide out just enough to be noticed.

Victor eyed them. "Runt."

" _This_ is the runt?" The woman asked. "You've got to be shitting me. This is not a _runt."_

Who was she, that Victor had told her about Logan, using his old nickname?

Victor put an arm around her, making eye contact with his brother. "He's a runt. Always was. Always will be."

It was a threat.

Logan squared his jaw. "What are you doin' here?"

"I'd like to know as well," Beast growled as he straightened up, a hand at his bruised throat. The gray haired girl watched him curiously, amber eyes wide as she took him in, as if she had never seen a giant, blue mutant before.

Mutant...Logan's nostrils flared as he took in her scent again. Fruit, winter air, female, and...something else. Something he wasn't used to anymore. He almost couldn't believe it, but she was a feral, just like him. Where had Victor managed to find her? Males were rare enough, but females? Almost unheard of now. They were all dead.

Victor refused to break eye contact with his brother now that he saw he had figured it out. "Lemme speak with the professor."

"You will _not-"_

"Logan, what's going on?" An esteemed voice asked from the hall. Xavier wheeled in, accompanied by Ororo, and Logan watched Victor stiffen.

"We need to talk with you," the woman blurted out, twisting her fingers nervously. Something seemed off about her. There was something he was missing, something he wasn't noticing, and as the professor led them to his office to speak without anyone sticking their noses in, the mystery gnawed at Logan more and more.

His brother didn't keep women around. He was a one night stand kind of guy, and his "dates" usually ended in bloodshed. He didn't understand romance, nor had he ever displayed any desire to. He had raped and tortured girls, especially while in the heat of a bloodlust, and he had never, not once, showed any legitimate interest in pursuing a relationship of any kind. It made Logan wonder if the two weren't romantic or sexual partners at all, and if this was all just some kind of twisted business deal or trap, but as Victor continued trying to stay in between the gray haired girl and his younger brother, he could tell that something was definitely going on. Victor was constantly in contact with her, brushing against her, pulling her against his side as if he were trying to hide her, watching everyone else with dark, accusing eyes that suggested he was on guard.

He probably was. Victor had always been the jealous type. He didn't like to trust anyone else, and he had always been selfish, except when it came to his brother. Even that had turned shitty, though, and Logan assumed Victor had just let the Sabretooth eat away at him and take over. The bloody, violent, warlike beast that knew only killing. That's what his brother was, a monster of war, of bloodshed, of anger and evil. But...he was still his brother. That's why they had stuck together for so long; Victor cared for him when no one else would, and taught him everything he knew. He didn't grow old the way everyone else did. He protected his little brother until he was strong enough to protect himself. In a lot of ways, he really had been good, but that didn't mean that he had stayed that way.

"Ororo, would you mind checking on the students?" Xavier asked curtly as they entered his office. "I fear the thunder may upset some of them."

"I know it upset me." Victor's companion grumbled as Ororo left, giving them a wary look as she strode out.

Xavier wheeled himself around to the far side of his desk, Beast following him, and gestured to her. "Miss Ria, please, have a seat."

She immediately plopped down in the chair across from him, despite Victor's small grunt of protest. "Oh, shut up. We've been walking for _days._ I'm exhausted and I'm cold and I'm drenched." She snapped at him.

The professor smiled and Victor snarled.

As Logan walked around them, preferring to be next to the professor where he could better protect him, he glanced down from his brother's eyes at the girl and caught a glimpse of something as she moved her hair off of her neck to run her fingers through it and wring it out. Was that…? No. It couldn't be. He stopped and looked, for real this time, and saw that he had been right; there was a massive scar there, at the spot where her neck met her shoulder, and the sight of it made him growl. He knew what that was.

His brother had taken a mate.

"What the hell is goin' on here?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest, his jaw squared as he ground his teeth in anger.

Victor just growled, clearly not in the mood to talk, leaving the girl in charge of explaining _why_ exactly someone who had caused so much trouble for Logan was currently sitting in the one place he shouldn't be allowed, with something he shouldn't be allowed to have.

"Miss Ria, please." the professor nodded gently towards her and Logan wondered exactly what he already knew. He generally tried to be polite-too polite, in his opinion-and didn't like to barge into anyone's mind if they weren't causing problems, but Logan had always suspected that he poked and prodded around more than he liked to let on.

The girl, Ria, suddenly looked uncomfortable. Well, more so than she already did. "We just basically walked and hitchhiked here from the Yukon…"

So that's where Victor had been hiding out. He should've guessed.

"...I haven't eaten in a day and I feel like I'm dying." she put her hands in her lap and looked down. "Victor said we'd be safest here."

"Who exactly are you runnin' from that you'd come _here?"_ Logan snarled. The school was safe, with so many powerful mutants teaching there, but it wasn't exactly a welcoming place for people like Victor.

"Who, indeed…" Beast said thoughtfully from his place on the professor's other side.

"Don't know exactly who." Victor said roughly. "Pretty sure they're connected back to Stryker's work, though."

Logan stiffened at the mention of the name.

"I was a test subject," Ria said quickly, moving to stand up. "I'm not lying. I can tell you don't believe us. Look." she stood and pulled her hoodie up to reveal a belly covered in scars and Logan growled to himself. He didn't like the concept of anyone being locked up, especially women.

After a tense moment of silence, the professor finally spoke. "Hank, could you please get us some tea? I believe we have some things to discuss."

Victor still wasn't in the mood to talk, and Logan was fine with that. He didn't want to hear another word come out of his brother. Ria, although clearly exhausted and understandably irritated, agreed to tell them everything on the condition that she and Victor be granted sanctuary in the mansion. Logan had tried to protest, of course, not wanting his brute of a sibling in the same house as so many mutant children, but Xavier ignored him and allowed it. He seemed to trust that it wasn't a trap, and as Logan watched his brother and noticed the dark circles around his eyes, he realized that Victor would never allow himself to look so tired and haggard in front of anyone he was trying to intimidate. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and as Logan paid more and more attention to him, he could see his slightly labored breathing as he struggled with the effort of staying awake.

Hank brought them tea and both feral brothers refused, choosing to stare each other down instead. Ria accepted it gratefully, and Xavier had a cup as well as he smiled gently at her. They seemed to be getting along well so far, and Logan was glad that he wasn't going to have to worry about the girl like he would his brother. She was in far worse shape, with bags under her eyes, a constantly growling stomach, and the tendency to turn around and physically snap at Victor whenever he did something she didn't like. Maybe she wasn't bad at all, if she was able to keep him in check like that.

Logan flexed and let the tips of his claws slide out in a warning to Victor, who responded with a sneer and flex of his own claws. The signature smirk that Logan had expected was absent, though, and that's what really concerned him; his brother was cocky, arrogant, and he was rarely serious like this. It meant that something was _actually_ weighing down on him in a way that war had never seemed to, and that was impressive.

"So, Miss Ria." the professor began.

She sighed. "Please just call me Ria, professor."

He cracked a wry smile. "Only if you'll call me Xavier, my dear."

Logan noticed that he was treating her as an equal, and became thoroughly confused.

A smile twitched on her lips. "Whatever you say, old man."

"Start from the beginning, please. I'd like everyone in the room to be on the same page."

So he _had_ gone into her head already.

"How far is the beginning?" she asked almost nervously.

"Wherever you'd like it to be."

She was quiet for a few seconds. "Well. Well, several years ago I was...taken, by soldiers. I can't remember how. It's all blurry, and fuzzy...they took me to a facility and started operating, experimenting, poking around in my innards. You know. Like they like to." she sighed, unable to even keep up with her own sarcasm. "The doctor told me I was rare. They gave me a number. 213. For years that was the only name I had."

Logan growled. He knew what that was like.

"They wanted more ferals. They said they needed more soldiers. The doctor told me a story about how they used to have some." she smiled weakly at Logan. "Figure that was you two."

He felt a pang in his chest. Yeah, that had to be him and his brother.

"They didn't have a way to do it _naturally,_ though, so they would inject me or cut me up and try to make things stay and grow. It never worked, and they just...over and over, the same thing every time, just cut me open, sew me up, wait a couple months and do it again to clean house when they realized they had failed _again."_

"That is beyond horrible," Beast murmured.

"They were idiots, though," she sneered viciously. "They starved me to the point of lost healing abilities. My body locked itself up and refused to work for them because it wasn't safe. I couldn't go into heat, and then they realized they wouldn't be able to do anything unless I was completely fertile. So they knocked me out, stuck me in a box, and were shipping me off to another facility when I got the fuck out of there and found Victor."

She looked back up at him fondly, reaching up to put a hand on his arm. "He took care of me. I got a bed and food for the first time in god knows how long."

Logan was shocked. His brother, actually taking care of her? No. No way. The only person he had ever looked out for was him, and those days were behind them. Victor didn't just suddenly take strangers in and help them out. He wasn't a good samaritan, and he never would be.

"And what of your current predicament?" the professor asked, listening to her intently.

A very slight pink tint spread across her face. "See...I...we had to run, because they showed up a few nights ago trying to get me again, because…."

She seemed too embarrassed to say it, and Victor finally spoke up. "She's havin' my cubs, and those _humans_ want 'em."

Now Logan was _really_ shocked.

Part of him was enraged. "You _knocked her up?"_ he roared at his brother, pointing an accusing finger. "You ain't fit to be a father, Victor!"

"At least I didn't kill mine," he snapped.

"Asshole!"

"Fuck off."

Logan walked out from behind the desk, grabbing the front of his brother's jacket and pulling him close. "You can't tell me what to do anymore."

Victor snarled and grabbed Logan's shirt, shoving him back into the wall. "Remember your place, runt."

Meanwhile, the professor looked on with only mild alarm, while Beast looked on with much more alarm, and Ria just sighed and put her face in her hands, seemingly with no alarm whatsoever.

"Gentlemen, please," Xavier said.

They continued squabbling, growling and snarling and shoving each other around the room as they argued and Victor, exhausted as he was, tried to re-assert the dominance he had lost when they parted ways.

"They've got a few years of...brotherly love to figure out," Beast commented, trying to decide if he should do anything or if getting between them was too dangerous as Victor took a swipe at Logan's face.

"They've no intent to kill each other," Xavier said calmly. "Hank, if you wouldn't mind, I believe it would be in our best interest to get Ria a physical exam as soon as possible, given her past and current circumstances."

Beast nodded, flinching when a glass shattered against a wall. Ria peeked out from her hands, her eyes more tired than ever, and gave another sigh.

"If it's all the same, I would honestly like to sleep right now."

"Of course, my dear." Xavier said. "We'll ready a room for you immediately."

She smiled weakly before whipping her head around to glare at Victor and Logan, energized by the promise of rest. "Both of you!" she snarled.

They both froze, Logan's claws out at Victor's chest, stabbing through him just a bit. Victor didn't seem to care.

"Stop acting like children and leave each other alone!"

"But he-"

"- _This_ asshole-"

"I don't care who's an asshole," she growled darkly. "I am pregnant and I am tired and I will not tolerate any of this bullshit."

They both grumbled and hung their heads, earning an impressed grunt from Beast and a small smile from the professor. It seemed clear who was really the alpha in the newly formed family group, small and delicate-looking as she was. As Ria stood and followed Beast to the room she and Victor would be staying in, she issued warning snarls to both him and Logan every time they tried to start something, and when they finally made it to their destination, she was so tired out from it that she was hardly more than a walking corpse.

She immediately went in and laid down on the small bed, not even looking back at anyone else. Her breathing deepened the moment her head hit the pillows. Logan watched from the doorway as Victor shouldered past him to join her, sparing his younger brother a threatening glance before sitting down next to her and glaring at Logan.

"Get out," he growled.

Logan crossed his arms over his chest. "We gotta talk, Victor."

"About what?" his brother snapped.

"What exactly you're plannin' on doin' now." he glowered at Victor. "If you're gonna be a father, you have to start actin' like one."

"I know what I'm doin', runt."

"No you don't." Logan took a step towards him. "You've got no idea how to do this."

"I know exactly what I'm doin'!" he stood up. "I wanted this. _She_ wanted this. She went into heat and I did what I was supposed to."

"The world ain't like it used to be," Logan said. "We can't just live off instincts."

Victor took another step so that he was face to face with his brother. "Listen, runt. It's worked so far. I trust the Sabretooth, an' _you_ should start trustin' the Wolverine."

"Do you even like her?" Logan asked. "Or are you just usin' her like everyone else you meet?"

Victor's lip raised in a sneer before something changed in his expression. He was letting his exhaustion get the best of him, tired eyes looking straight into Logan's own. His voice was uncharacteristically gentle as he cast a glance back towards Ria. "I love her."

Logan didn't know how to respond. He had never expected to hear those words come out of his brother's mouth, nor had he ever expected to see him in such a state. "She's really the one, huh?"

Victor looked back at him and nodded almost sheepishly. "I wouldn't've brought her here if she wasn't worth protectin', Jimmy."

That's how he knew that things were serious. Victor would never dare, or want to, set foot in Xavier's school outside of dire circumstances. "Guess she's part of the family then."

Victor's usual smirk flashed across his face. "Just like old times?"

Logan sighed and nodded, something like excitement jumping inside him. "Just like old times."


	12. Progress

_A/N: Hey everybody! I don't make very many notes or comments in my fics, but I thought I should for once. I just wanted to thank everybody who's faved, followed, and/or reviewed this story. I didn't realize there was this much of a following for movieverse Victor, so I've been pleasantly surprised by all the support! Thanks again, and I hope I can continue writing chapters that you all enjoy!_

"How are we feeling today?"

"Better than I have for the past few days, but also somehow worse."

Beast cracked a smile. "Well, hopefully we can fix that." He was sitting in a swivel chair that seemed entirely too small for him, glasses perched on his face and a lab coat sitting over his usual clothes. He wheeled away from the examination table Ria was slumping on and grabbed some papers that were sitting on the counter. "Let's take a look at your blood test results."

The room was a lot like a doctor's office, with less cheesy posters and less pamphlets about the dangers of unprotected sex. The lights were less bright, and Ria was thankful for that; it looked a lot less like the rooms she had gotten so used to and more like a gentle, legitimately helpful place. Her exam table was actually sitting in a corner, sectioned off by a half drawn curtain so that she could still see out into the rest of the room, which was filled with testing equipment. How Beast managed to run the entire setup was a mystery, but Ria figured that he didn't do much else with his time.

"Well," he wheeled back over to her. "You're definitely pregnant."

"No, really?" She asked sarcastically.

He gave her a look. "Really."

Ria smiled a little. "So...is everything normal?"

He read down the sheet. "Everything seems to be in order. Based on this, you're perfectly healthy. This is just a blood test, though." He looked back up at her. "I don't know very much about feral pregnancies, unfortunately, so I can't necessarily tell you how far along you-"

"Two months," Ria interrupted. "Well...nine weeks. I think. I tried to count when I found out, based on my heat. So."

"Well, if the fetal development of feral mutants is similar enough to that of humans, which I imagine it would be, we would, maybe, be able to use an ultrasound and find something."

"Why do you have one here?" Ria asked.

"With so many mutant children in one place, abnormalities are bound to arise that do not aid their bodies, such as tumors, bone problems, et cetera. I prefer to be prepared, and have many instruments and machines that wouldn't be found in the average mansion's infirmary." Beast said matter of factly as he stood and led her to another table. "And as you can see, it pays to be prepared."

"What is it that you're so worried about, anyway?" Ria asked nervously as she followed him and sat down again. She and Victor had been there for only two days, and almost everything she heard was concern for her wellbeing in some form or another. People seemed to have the impression that she was with Victor against her will and that he had forced her to have his children, and the longer she stayed and the more she interacted, the more she began to see just how much they hated him.

She didn't know exactly what he had done to warrant such hostility, and she really didn't care. Maybe it was part of living for so long and seeing so many people come and go, or maybe it was the variety of places she had been and all of the drama and glamour of her wartime days, but she wasn't too concerned with whatever horrible things he had done. He had never done anything to her aside from the usual spats and scuffles, so she had nothing to forgive him for and nothing to concern herself with, and whatever issues he had with everyone else, he had to figure out on his own.

"While you share the healing factor that Logan and Victor have, there's no way of telling if your reproductive organs are damaged." Beast said. "We've seen Logan recover from massive injuries, but the fact that your healing was slowed and even stopped while you were in that facility is cause for concern."

"I've felt fine so far." She said, trying to choke out the little pang of fear that she felt. This is what she had been worried about from the beginning. "And I've thought of all that before."

"I'm sure you have," Beast replied as he made her lay back. "We can't be sure until we take a look, though."

"Are you actually going to be able to see anything?" She asked skeptically.

"A heartbeat, if nothing else." He answered as he motioned for her to pull her shirt up. "As I said before, there's no way of telling if your pregnancy is going to be very comparable to that of a completely human woman's."

"Why wouldn't it be? My mother was human. I assume Victor's was."

"But the two of you aren't," Beast said as he spread goo over her belly.

She flinched at the coldness. "Is that the only thing you're worried about, or are you like everybody else?"

He sighed. "Victor Creed is...well, he's...how do I put this?"

"An asshole?"

"Yes, that. Everyone here who has interacted with him has always known him to be aggressive and brutish, especially with the way Logan talks about him." He put on a fresh pair of sterile gloves as the machine turned on. "When you first arrived with him, we all assumed the worst. It seemed likely that you were a business partner, as Victor has never kept a woman with him longer than a night. Now that it's been made clear that you aren't a threat, people are worried for your own safety with him."

"I mean your personal thoughts, Beast."

"My only concern is the health and safety of you and your children." He said, trying to stay neutral. "However, from what I have observed these past two days, he behaves much differently with you than he ever has with anyone else. Perhaps you've managed to change something in him."

She stifled a sigh. "I guess."

"He's taken on the role of an aggressive, dominant male in a family setting. He's taking risks to protect you, and that in itself is impressive for him."

Ria cracked a small smile. "He's rough, but he's never really given me a reason to be afraid of him." Her smile widened. "And he's so excited."

Beast looked impressed. "A little hard to imagine."

"That's what everyone keeps saying." Ria said as Beast pressed the probe against her stomach. She had been subject to ultrasounds before, but she had gotten used to them revealing nothing but dead fetuses, and they were usually followed by either an induced labor or a crude c-section. They could never let things just take care of themselves _naturally._ They always wanted her ready again as soon as possible, and waiting for her body to process what had happened was never an option with them.

She was half expecting the same thing to happen this time as she watched the black and gray screen next to her. The last several times she had been through this, she had stopped bothering to look, and now that she was back on a table with jelly covering her stomach, she dared to take a glance at it. She didn't know how to make sense of all the grainy, shifting shapes, but as Beast's blue eyebrows rose a bit, she figured it was a good sign.

"What?" She asked hopefully. "Did you find heartbeats?"

He nodded and pointed at the screen while he continued moving the probe with his other hand. "There's one...two…"

Ria felt her own heart jump. Twins?

"...three."

Not twins. Triplets.

She stared at the screen and saw some strange, pulsating blobs. "Are there any more?"

He moved the probe around a bit more and shook his head. "Only the three. Well, I shouldn't say _only…"_

"I have to tell Victor!" She grinned and started to sit up.

"Hang on, hang on." Beast removed the probe and grabbed a roll of paper towels to wipe the jelly off. He then pulled off his gloves and helped her up. "I want to do weekly checkups, to track development and ensure that everything goes smoothly."

"Yeah, whatever." Ria said as she stood, practically bouncing in place. "Are you coming?"

"I'll stay here and clean up. I'm going to run a few more tests-"

"Okay, see you next week!" Ria called as she tore out of the room.

She bounded through the halls to the kitchen, where Victor had grumpily said he would wait when she and Beast had asked him to stay out so that they could have peace and quiet. Sure enough, as she burst through the door, there he was, sitting across from Logan. Or was it Jimmy? Why did he have to change his name and confuse her? Maybe she should just call him Lambchops.

Victor jumped up the second he saw her, and both brothers were somewhat alarmed by her sudden entrance. Ria launched herself at Victor, alarming him even more, and pulled him down to pepper kisses across his face.

"I take it somethin' happened." He said as he managed to pry her off.

"He found heartbeats," she said excitedly.

"...multiple?" Logan asked.

Victor pulled her into a tight hug. "How many?"

"Three."

"Oh, Christ." Logan mumbled.

Victor grinned and kissed Ria's forehead, tangling his claws in her hair as he held the back of her head. "Triplets?"

She nodded and pulled away to look at him. "He wants to do weekly checks."

Victor nudged her over to sit down at the table and then looked at his brother. "Congrats, runt. You're an uncle."

"Never figured I would be, honestly." He stood and walked over to the stove. "I'm thinkin' we celebrate with bacon."

Victor rolled his eyes. "You think _bacon_ is good for this?"

"You're s'posed to save the cigars for when the baby's born. An' they told me I couldn't smoke in here anymore anyway." He grabbed a frying pan. "So, bacon. It's all we got that's worth eatin' now."

A few minutes later, Ria was enjoying her food, Victor was nuzzling his cheek against hers, and Logan was keeping a safe distance at the other side of the table. It was all extremely domestic, with nobody snarling at each other or trying to throw punches. They were almost like a real family.

"Got any name ideas?" Logan asked suddenly.

"I don't even know what they are yet," Ria said.

"Yeah, so? You can still pick. I'm tryin' my best here, kid."

She growled. "Don't call me a kid. I'm almost as old as you. I'm _having_ kids."

"Old habits die hard...darlin'."

"Only I can call her that, runt." Victor snarled.

"What am I s'posed to say?" Logan snapped.

"Okay, you can call me kid if I can call you Lambchops." Ria said. "Since Victor isn't going to let you say anything else." She only realized how ridiculous it all sounded after she said it. She had better things she could be doing with her time, and yet there she was, sitting at a kitchen table, joking about unimportant nicknames with a man she barely knew.

Logan was interesting. He carried himself with the air of someone who knew how dangerous he was, but not in the same way that Victor did. The younger brother was gentler, interacting with the students in Xavier's school in generally friendly ways, and Ria noticed that many of them called him a professor. She had no idea what he taught, but she could tell that he knew just as much as Victor did, and even if she had never been told anything about either brother, she could have guessed that he had seen war.

He was strong, but not as built as Victor. Ria was probably still much faster than him, even if he was quicker than his sibling. What intrigued her the most about him, though, were his claws; they weren't like hers or Victor's, which were which were just normal, everyday claws. His were metal, and they slid out of his hands as if they retracted and just sat in his arms the rest of the time. They couldn't be natural, could they? But if they weren't, then how did they get that way?

She didn't have a chance to ask him before the door opened and a few kids walked in.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Logan snapped as they just stood and stared at the three of them.

"W-we're on break," one of them stammered.

"I didn't hear a bell."

"We are, we swear!" another said, looking back and forth between Logan and Victor.

"Don't hear anybody else walkin' around outside, kid." Victor said coldly. "Get back to where you're s'posed to be."  
They paled. None of them had thought of what to do if Victor Creed, infamous as he was, addressed them. They all began backing towards the door again, too afraid to turn their backs but even more afraid of what would happen if they disobeyed him. They ran once they reached the hallway, the sound of their footsteps mixing up with those of Xavier's wheelchair and the lumbering of Beast.

The blue mutant peeked in through the doorway. "We have an interesting development."


	13. New Developments

"You're absolutely positive?" Ria asked.

"Thoughts very rarely lie," the professor answered. They were still standing in the doorway of the kitchen, Victor and Logan both behind Ria as she faced Xavier and Beast. "I found her through Cerebro. She is confused, frightened, and alone."

"I was there just a few months ago. She seemed completely normal-"

"She asked me about it." Victor interrupted.

Ria looked back at him. "And you never thought to tell me?"

He shrugged.

"Victor ain't exactly good at bein' _helpful."_ Logan said, glaring at his brother.

"Watch it, runt." Victor snarled.

"At this moment, she's at school." Xavier said, wheeling out towards his office. "If you all wouldn't mind, I'd prefer if miss Ellen continued her classes here, with us."

"Is she that powerful?" Ria asked as she followed. "Is she okay? What can she do?"

"I only caught a glimpse. She is experiencing semi-controlled out of body experiences, and she's very confused."

"Well, yeah! She's a _kid!_ Her parents don't get it, and they're probably going to lose their minds-"

"I would like for you to come with me and retrieve her," Xavier interrupted calmly.

"Absolutely not," Victor snarled as they entered the office. "She's staying where it's safe."

"I thought as much, and accordingly, I would like all three of you to come. The fact of the matter is that Miss Ellen called for Ria in her panic, and I fear that she may seriously harm herself if she does not learn to control her mutation. You would be very comforting, to say the least, and very helpful in making this as easy a transition as possible."

"Yes, please!" Ria said quickly, already anxious. "When can we leave? Right now?"

"We will need just a few moments to prepare, and then we will fly there. I'm hoping we can arrive shortly after Miss Ellen is home from her classes."

Ria was already dragging Victor out the door by the time Xavier finished, and within the hour, they were on a small plane. It was only when Beast was landing them a while later that it occurred to Ria how conspicuous they were, touching down at a small airstrip not far from her old home. Xavier already had a van waiting, _of course,_ and within another fifteen minutes they had arrived in front of the well-kept home, two cars sitting in the driveway. Ria recognized them as both Mary's _and_ Tim's, meaning that the latter had left work early. When she had lived with them, that very rarely happened. Something had to be going on.

She had almost entirely forgotten her excitement from earlier, and it seemed that Victor had as well. Finding out that they were having three children and the happiness that the discovery brought was overshadowed by this adventure into suburbia. Ria knew that Victor would rather be anywhere else, and honestly, she was dreading what her God fearing adoptive parents were going to have to say about their daughter developing a mutation. They had accepted Ria, but she wasn't their flesh and blood like Ellen was, and with mutants popping up more and more, she was afraid that they were going to see their child as some sort of abomination that needed to be dunked in holy water, or "cured," or exorcised, especially considering the nature of her mutation. Astral projection wasn't something that Mary and Tim were likely to be very pleased with.

Ria was just as nervous this time as she was when she and Victor had first visited a few months ago, but for different reasons now. She needed to know that Ellen, her little, not-so-human-anymore sister was safe, and as she rang the doorbell with shaky fingers, she felt the professor's conscience nudge at her mind in a somewhat reassuring manner. Victor had a hand at her back, claws pricking her while a grumbling Logan stood by Xavier with his arms crossed. Beast was at the back of the group, muttering something about the plane being stolen and how it needed a better cloaking device. When the door opened, however, they were all silent.

Mary was initially happy to see Ria. "Oh, my goodness! Darling, it's so good to see you, come in! And...Victor, hello." As Ria cracked a smile and Victor growled lowly, Mary's face changed to confusion and concern. "...Who are these?"

"Madam, may we come inside?" Xavier asked.

Five minutes later, the mutants, as well as Mary and Tim, were all sitting in the living room. Logan and Victor were behaving similarly to each other, both looking uncomfortable in the pristine home, and as Ria sat awkwardly between them, she began wondering what exactly it was going to be like having the two of them around so much. There was no doubt that they were brothers, both so gruff and big, and Tim and Mary had been staring at them almost as much as they stared at Beast as he desperately tried to get comfortable in the too-small armchair he got stuck with.

"My name is Charles Xavier." the professor began after politely declining Mary's offer of coffee. "I run a school, for extraordinary children with equally extraordinary abilities."

"Mutants?" Tim asked from his seat across from them.

"Honey, please!" Mary hissed, glancing at him as if he had used a slur.

Xavier just smiled. "Yes, mutants. I believe you already know of the powers and attributes possessed by our dear Ria and, I presume, Victor as well."

"Uh...y-yes, yes we do, of course," Mary said, getting more flustered by the second by everything that was going on.

"Then please allow me to introduce Hank McCoy, one of the brightest people I have ever had the pleasure of working with, and Logan, Victor's brother, both faculty at my institution."

"Runt brother," Victor grumbled.

"Can it," Logan snarled.

"Can you two be polite for longer than ten seconds at a time?" Ria snapped loudly atthem.

Logan smirked while his brother just kept grumbling. He was so hard to deal with in social situations. Scratch that, they _both_ were.

"We are here to speak about your daughter," Xavier said, reminding them to focus. "It is my understanding that she is exhibiting abilities beyond what most consider the norm."

"We got a call from her school that she was given detention," Tim said.

"And our baby _never_ gets in trouble, so you can imagine my near heart attack!" Mary said nervously, as if she weren't constantly joking about the ever-real threat of cardiac arrest looming over her.

"They said she was behaving strangely. Almost as if…" Tim looked at his wife. "As if she were possessed."

Victor rolled his eyes.

Mary looked like she was about to cry. "They said her eyes rolled back in her head a-and she was speaking in _tongues-"_

"Darling, they never said that." Tim said.

"Maybe not to you!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "What are we going to tell everyone at church? Oh, what will Pastor Michael think?"

"We can just tell everyone that she's ill," Tim said reassuringly."

"Even if she ain't?" Victor growled.

"What else are we supposed to do?" Mary snapped through her tears.

"Where is she?" Ria asked, itching to find Ellen and to get away from the people who definitely thought she needed an exorcism.

"Oh, sweetheart, she's upstairs in her room." Mary said. "Poor thing is so scared…"

Ria was up the stairs before anyone could even think about moving. She could hear Danny in his room and chose to ignore him, not really wanting to deal with him when her focus should be on her little sister, and went straight to Ellen's room. After a few soft knocks, she cracked the door open to find the teenager huddled on her bed, knees to her chest, tears still staining her cheeks.

"R-Ria?" she sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve in an attempt to look less pathetic. "Why are you here?"

"I came to see you," Ria said, quickly crossing the room to sit on the edge of the bed. "What's been going on?"

"H-how do you know?" Ellen asked, a tinge of fear in her voice.

"Tell me first."

She looked down. "I...I don't really even know what happened...one second I'm fine, a-and then I'm _not."_ she began shaking. "I was looking at myself, and then I was normal again, and then I wasn't, and it just wouldn't stop." fresh tears welled up in her eyes. "I-I looked at myself and my eyes were all white and I wasn't moving, a-and everyone was staring…."

Ria pulled her into a hug. "Has it happened before?"

"Only in dreams," she shook her head. "I got detention because th-they think I'm possessed…"

Ria growled.

"I'm not, am I?"

"Do you think you are?"

"I-I don't know!" she sounded like she was beginning to panic. "They wanted to get a priest, and I don't know what they're going to do, and I'm afraid of it happening again and I can't control it!"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know!"

"Shh, it's okay," Ria said as calmly as she could. "That's why I'm here. Xavier heard you, so we came to take you back with us."

Ellen pulled away. "Xavier?"

"He's downstairs. Victor is here too. Do you want to come see?"

The girl nodded and allowed Ria to pull her up and lead her out into the hall, Ellen dragging her heels as she wiped her eyes. Ria heard Danny's door creak open as they were walking down the stairs and kept her ears trained on his quiet footsteps. He had grown into such a little shit. Maybe she was just irritated with everything in general amidst the stress and concern she was feeling over Ellen, but the last thing she wanted to deal with was a hard headed teenage boy that wore dock shoes indoors.

There were raised voices that Ria recognized as Mary and Logan. She was a little surprised that Victor wasn't arguing, until she heard him snarl in response to something Tim said. Beast and the professor weren't even trying to interject, which meant that whatever the brothers were upset about was at least a little bit justified.

"Goin' to church ain't gonna change anythin'." Logan said.

"We have to consider it!" Mary almost shouted. "What will people think? They're going to _talk!"_

"It ain't exactly a scandal," Victor said.

"But it _is!"_

Tim pinched the bridge of his nose as his wife argued. Much like the last time mutants had visited his house, he was very aware of how dangerous they were, and while he agreed with Mary to some extent, he didn't want to find out what would happen if Victor got pissed enough to put his intimidating size to good use.

"Keep in mind who you're talkin' to." Logan growled.

Ellen made a whimpering sound and the brothers both turned to look at her the second they heard it. She swallowed nervously, shaking slightly as Ria pushed her into the room.

"Oh, honey," Mary said.

"Ah," Xavier said as they appeared in the living room. "Miss Ellen, I presume."

Ria could tell that the girl was scared as she nudged her forward. "It'll be fine," she muttered.

"Y-yes," Ellen stammered, stepping into the center of the room. "That's me. I'm Ellen."

The professor smiled. "I am Charles Xavier. I'd like you to enroll in my school. You'll learn to better control your new abilities, and you'll be among others with similar powers."

"Yes," Ellen said quickly. "Yes, please. I-I want to go."

"Now, darling-" Mary began.

"Mom, I-I don't want to keep going to St. Margaret's. I can't control this, I don't know how to, and-"

"Honey, why don't we speak with the pastor? He can-"

"No, he can't!" She yelled suddenly. He can't do anything for me!"

"You don't know that, Ellen." Tim said sternly after Mary gave him a look encouraging him to speak up. "Your mother wants to try it."

"I want to go with Ria," Ellen said firmly.

"She needs to be with people who can help her get control," Ria said. "I'm going to be with her."

"I thought you lived in a _cabin!"_ Mary said hysterically.

Victor growled, getting more and more irritated by the minute. "We're stayin' in the school for now."

"Not just for _now,"_ Beast reminded him.

"If you think I'm raisin' 'em with _you_ around-"

"You sure as hell are!" Logan snapped at his brother.

"Oh my god." Ria said. "Can we not talk about this now?"

"Talk about what?" Mary asked in concern, looking around at them in her temporary distraction.

"I suggest you pack a suitcase, Ellen," Xavier said to the girl. "While we clear things up down here, you can prepare."

"O-okay," Ellen nodded and bolted back up the stairs. Ria heard her bump into Danny, who had been eavesdropping behind them.

"You _had_ to bring it up." Ria glared at Victor.

He glared back. "I didn't-"

"Ria, what's going on?" Mary asked, momentarily forgetting about Ellen. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm just... _ugh._ I'm just pregnant. Okay? Okay. We talked about it. Good work, team. Let's get going." She heard a loud _HA!_ From behind her and turned to snarl at Danny. "Is something funny to you?"

He was sitting on the stairs. "You let _him_ knock you up?"

Mary looked like she was going to have a heart attack and Victor was trying to jump up to kill Danny.

"Calm down!" Logan ordered as he held him back.

Ria stalked up to Danny. "You're a real shit stain, Daniel. You know that?"

"I'm just saying. You could do better."

"No I fucking couldn't. Don't you dare say that, asshole." Ria shoved past him on her way to help Ellen pack, hearing the professor's voice downstairs as she went.

She reached the bedroom door only to be met with Ellen already heading out, her bag packed and a pillow in her arms. She gave Ria a little smile.

"Can we go?" She asked eagerly.

Ria nodded and they went back down, and a good ten minutes later, were standing outside in the driveway with Victor and Logan while Hank and the professor stayed inside to speak with Ellen's parents and attempt to calm them down. Danny was also inside with them, probably being just as shitty as he had previously been, and Ria was just happy to have gotten away from all of them and out into the fresh air.

Ellen looked happy, albeit nervous, as she stood next to Logan and Victor. The brothers were glowering at each other, Logan's arms folded over his chest while Victor clung to Ria in an effort to relax slightly. He was still somewhat enraged, growling to himself whenever he heard anything in the house that he didn't like.

"Well," Ria said. "That was fucking awful."

"Thank you for not letting them try to take me to the church," Ellen said. "They had suggested it at school, and mom really wanted to do it…"

"You're family." Victor looked at her. "I ain't lettin' them try to get some demon out of you."

"You _always_ think you're in charge, Victor." Logan snarled. "Why can't you keep your damn mouth shut?"

"You're not any better," Ria snapped.

"Am I really family?" Ellen asked excitedly.

"Of course," Ria answered. "Why wouldn't you be?"

"I don't know...I guess...you kind of have your own family now. Sort of."

"So?"

"So...I guess I just don't want to be in the way or anything."

"You ain't in the way, kid." Logan said.

Ellen beamed. "So what is this place like? Is there anybody like me there?"

Logan shrugged. "I can't keep track of everybody. There's all kinds."

While they talked, Ria leaned back against Victor and closed her eyes, breathing in all the smells the early summer suburbs had to offer. Someone a few houses over had been mowing the lawn, the scent of fresh grass floating through the air even after he had stopped to stare at all of the mutants standing outside the house that always hosted the neighborhood Christmas party. A woman walking her children home from their bus stop hurriedly guided them to the other side of the street, despite their initial lack of interest. After she had rushed them away, however, they turned to gape at the odd little group, eyes wide with curiosity and excitement.

They would probably be raised to hate mutants. The kids didn't know it now-they looked like they were probably in elementary school-but their parents were probably wary of what they thought was some kind of agenda. Ria had been out of politics and social strife for years during her time in the labs, but based on everything she had seen in the past few months back out in the real world, people weren't too accepting of mutants. She remembered the diner she and Victor had stopped at during their first trip to this neighborhood and the stares they had received, and she remembered the way the cashier had acted when she bought those pregnancy tests.

Back when she was famous, her mutation had come in handy. It had made her exotic. Sure, some people didn't like her because of it, and she remembered receiving a few letters amongst the hundreds her fans sent her that mentioned praying for her soul, but Hollywood loved her amber eyes and thick black claws, and her careless persona didn't have time for anyone who was prejudiced.

But in this neighborhood, full of relatively new houses and rows and rows of the same landscaping, a place where every holiday season there were dramatic decoration contests and block parties were regular events, nobody cared for the exoticism a mutant offered, and they were only concerned with the fact that they were _different._ Different was dangerous, especially when the individual in question had fangs and claws and was the size of Victor or his brother, and as one of the children pointed excitedly and Ria offered a small wave, she hoped that she would be a better mother than theirs.

The professor and Beast finally came back out, followed by a teary Mary and slightly relieved Tim. He was probably happy that everything was finally over with. Danny skulked behind them in the doorway, leaning against the frame while he pouted. Ria rolled her eyes at him and stood up straight, Victor letting her go to hug her adoptive mother before Mary went after Ellen. She was almost afraid that she was going to try to make her daughter stay, but they got away with relatively little struggle and were back in the van that had remained waiting for them the entire time within just a few minutes.

Ellen was excited the entire time, having never been on a plane that wasn't a commercial jet heading for Florida or California for yearly vacations. She was bouncing in her seat, even while strapped in, and when they reached the mansion, she shot off, following Beast to her new room without so much as a glance back at Ria.

The older mutant was pleased. Ellen was going to be safe and away from exorcists, and now she could keep an eye on her while they stayed in the school. As she followed Victor back to their own room, she smiled to herself a tiny bit, realized that she was hungry, and dragged him off towards the kitchen just before he was reached for their door.


	14. Teeny Boppers

Fourteen

Ellen was settling in quickly, but Ria could still tell that she was occasionally homesick. It wasn't too concerning, though, and it was to be expected after such a disruptive few days. She was trying to figure out where she belonged and who she should hang out with in the high school environment, but seemed understandably happy to start learning how to control herself. She spent a lot of time sitting in the kitchen or outside with Ria and Victor, talking about her classes and asking an unending stream of questions about everything from their mutations to hers to what she should do with her future. It was making Victor actually talk more to someone other than Logan or Ria, so while they chatted, the latter would cook to sate her ever-growing appetite.

She was occasionally the victim of random bouts of morning sickness, running to bathrooms after smelling something particularly strong or eating anything that her unborn spawn apparently deemed worthless. She didn't know why it was named what it was, because she wasn't experiencing it in the morning at all, and the misnomer pissed her off. Every time it happened Victor would try to follow, and every time she would snarl and tell him to fuck off. She hated vomit enough as it was, and the concept of having anyone watching was roughly ten times worse than just the action itself.

Beast still insisted on weekly checkups, and it wasn't until Ria reached her third month of pregnancy that she allowed Victor to join her. Hank had come to the conclusion that all of her blood work was coming back fine, though he always kept samples to study her mutation, and insisted on prenatal vitamins and a diet that wasn't entirely meat, despite her constant craving for raw steak. He also discovered that the babies were growing more quickly now, and estimated her full gestation at thirty weeks, significantly shorter than expected. It put their development ahead of normal, and it almost confirmed that all three triplets shared their parents' mutation. Hank suspected that, had any of them been completely normal human fetuses, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the others and would be causing complications. Thankfully, they all seemed to be growing together, and it was safe to assume that they were all similar as far as mutations went.

It was also a good sign that none of them had devoured the others.

Due to her small stature and the fact that she was having three babies instead of one or even two, Ria was definitely showing, her baby bump already sizeable. It earned her stares and whispers from the kids that called Xavier's school home, and while a good portion of them knew about the whole situation, most still gossiped and behaved exactly the way high schoolers would, especially the ones that hadn't had many struggles with their mutations and had simply been enrolled in the school in a smooth and easy process. They whispered when she passed them, hiding behind their hands as if she couldn't hear them, making crude comments and jokes about all three ferals.

Ria did her best to ignore and avoid them, socializing very little in general and sticking with Victor or Logan, but sometimes the stares were too much and she snapped, cornering groups of teenagers and picking fights until someone dragged her away. Everyone was noticing that her pregnancy was causing her to be more angry than sad, and she rarely cried, leading all of the older mutants there to constantly be on the lookout for angry ferals.

It wasn't just Ria that they were concerned about; Victor was, of course, still the one they kept the closest eye on, but Logan had begun to worry them as well. The ferals were developing some sort of a pack mentality, and both males worked in tandem to protect the future of their little family, even when there was no danger present. They never allowed anyone to get too close to Ria, and in the rare moments that Victor wasn't with her, his brother took his place to keep an eye on things. Victor still liked to make it very clear that he was in charge and that Logan was not permitted to get too involved with Ria, but welcomed his sibling's help when it came to taking care of her. Logan, while still much less aggressive than his brother, was displaying more ferocity than the others were used to, and it put them all on edge.

Beast explained it all to the rest of the X-men in a brief meeting they had one night when they were safely hidden from all three ferals. Hours upon hours of research and his own primal mutation gave him a better understanding of what they were going through, and he tried to impress upon the others the fact that Logan and Victor were both very, _very_ serious about protecting Ria now that she was with child. It was all instinct, a force great enough to overcome the brothers' grudges, and they were fueled by a self-sacrificing need to use every bit of their strength making sure that Ria was safe and happy. They were both relatively young, still in their prime, and neither of them had ever been in a family situation with another feral besides each other. In short, the best thing to do was leave them alone. Some of the others argued that it was too dangerous and that something needed to be done before someone got hurt or killed, but Hank won out in the end, and it was decided that the ferals, even Logan, were to be avoided.

It was her thirteen week ultrasound when Ria allowed Victor to accompany her and stay the entire time. She hadn't told him, but it was going to be an exciting visit-Hank had told her that they would, hopefully, be able to see what exactly they were having, if the fetuses were facing the right way. As she laid back on the table and the jelly was spread across her belly, Ria felt Victor slip his fingers into hers. She looked over to see him closely watching everything that was happening, scrutinizing Hank's every move as he pressed the probe against Ria's stomach and then watching the grainy screen through narrowed eyes.

She watched his expression change as shapes formed, little blobs that were actually beginning to resemble something that seemed like they could potentially become functional creatures. Victor's eyes widened and he fell completely still when Hank began pointing things out, like tiny arms and legs, and when it was finally time for the gender reveal, Ria was pretty sure her mate stopped breathing.

"Let's see here, shall we?" Beast said, peering at the screen. "It's looking like male...female...and...female."

Victor let out his breath and then puffed back up again, a proud expression falling over his face. He had secretly been hoping for more boys, but he figured he could teach girls to hunt and fight just as well. As his gaze shifted over at Ria, he wondered what they were going to look like. Would they be gray haired like their mother, or would they have Victor's own black hair and dark eyes? Were they going to be small? Would the boy grow up to be as massive as his father? What were they going to name them?

Seeing them up there on that little screen suddenly made things a lot realer for Victor. Somehow, it was different than just looking at Ria's pregnant belly and knowing that his unborn children were in there. It was different than being able to smell the hormonal changes his mate was going through as their children grew. It was _different_ than just thinking and talking about everything. They were actually there, and he could see them, small, alienesque little things up on a monitor. Those were his children, his cubs, his babies to protect and watch over.

What he was feeling was completely new to him. It was somewhat similar to the way he felt towards Ria, but magnified. It was love, he knew that much, but it was just...so much _more._ The concept of anyone trying to hurt his offspring made him equal parts anxious and angry, and the swelling in his chest was almost painful. He hadn't even met them yet, and he already adored each one. He couldn't imagine what it was going to feel like when they were born and he could see and hold them and know that they were there and they were _his._

"Victor?"

He zoned back in at the sound of Ria's voice. "What?"

"Did you hear what Hank said?"

"No."

"We can go now." She started sitting up as Beast gave her a paper towel to wipe her belly off.

"Already?" He didn't want to leave yet, not when he was first seeing his son and daughters. He could stay staring at that monitor all day without even thinking about moving away from it.

"It's time for dinner," Ria reminded him. "And you haven't eaten all day."

"That's a lie, darlin'." He grumbled as he helped her stand.

"A single breakfast sausage doesn't count."

Victor had been eating less and less, concerning himself primarily with making sure that Ria was getting the majority of their food. It concerned her, knowing that he wasn't reaching the ridiculous amount of calories he needed every day, and she urged him to eat whenever she could. He usually tried to refuse, guarding her and making sure that she was taken care of. While she appreciated the gesture, it worried her, especially when they were in a house filled with food and had no reason to go hungry.

"You really should be getting more food, Victor," Beast chided. "I know how much energy you've been spending watching over Ria. Your body needs fuel."

Victor just huffed and grumpily followed Ria out, sticking close as they entered the hall where they found Logan waiting for them, looking incredibly tense. As Ria glanced around, she could see why; Scott Summers was heading away from them with Jean in tow, and Ria had paid enough attention lately to know that Logan and Scott didn't get along well at all. She suspected he fancied Jean, but she had never outright asked, and was trying to stay out of it.

He had also gotten into the habit of not eating enough, though not as badly as Victor. There weren't any visible differences in either of them, but they were both getting slightly more sluggish and more easily irritated the less they ate, and Ria knew that everyone else in the mansion was noticing. She could only do so much, though, and if the boys were going to ignore her every time she urged them to get food, then they were going to have to deal with the repercussions.

Was that a bad attitude? Probably.

"How'd it go?" Logan asked finally.

"Two girls," Victor rumbled proudly. "An' a boy."

As Logan heard the news, Ria noticed that the brothers had a lot of similar habits. At that moment, they shared a proud expression, both straightening their backs and puffing up their chests slightly. It was ridiculous, but...flattering? Humbling? She didn't know.

Logan clapped a hand on his brother's shoulder and looked at him with something that might have been fondness. It was almost as if they were behaving like brothers were supposed to-supporting each other, being civil, not trying to tear any throats out or gut anyone. It was...what was the word? Heartwarming? _That_ was something Ria had never thought she would describe them as.

"Everythin' still goin' fine, then?" Logan asked as they began walking.

"They're perfect," Ria answered.

"Like they should be." Victor grumbled.

"Did he say anythin' else?"

"Nothing worth mentioning. Victor wasn't listening anyways." Ria said as they reached the kitchen, the spot that had become their usual haunt.

"Yes I was," Victor snapped.

"You were not. You were busy staring at the screen instead."

"So?"

She couldn't help but smile a tiny bit.


	15. The Bad Filler Chapter

Victor was finally taking a break.

Ria had convinced (forced) him to take the time to sit down and eat while she went to bed that night, and he agreed (relented) only when Jimmy said he would stay and keep an eye on her. They were close enough that Victor could still hear everything, down to their heartbeats, and in all honesty, the mansion was a safe enough place that it could have been left at that, without the runt having to stand guard. Victor knew that deep down somewhere, but he wasn't good at rationalization when it came to Ria.

What he was getting good at, however, was making unlikely friends.

"I just don't _get it,"_ Ellen said as she sat across from the massive feral.

"What's not t'get?" Victor asked tiredly. He had gone through several helpings of dinner, and now that Ellen was joining him, he was almost getting sleepy.

"Uh, hello? All of it?" she slammed a textbook down in front of him. "I just don't see why we have to study math."

Victor snorted. "Take it up with the professor, kid."

Ellen rolled her eyes. "I'm here to control my mutation, not find x. But...can you help me?" she cracked the book open and looked at him hopefully.

The big mutant raised an eyebrow. "Don't think that's a great idea, kid."

"Why not?" she asked, ignoring him and finding the right page. "You've been around a long time."

"Not long enough to wanna find x."

"Long enough to end up living in a school, though, just like an old man professor."

He raised his lip in a snarl. "I can't say it enough, can I?" his voice was a low growl. "I. Don't. Wanna. Be. Here."

"Then where else are you gonna go?" Ellen asked.

This kid was really good at getting on his nerves.

"I keep tellin' these people. The only reason I'm here is for Ria. Those assholes want her back, and I ain't givin' her away."

"So what makes you think you could raise babies on your own?"

"I know what I'm doin'!" he snarled, torso flexing as he stopped himself from jumping up.

Ellen didn't even flinch. The girl was made of steel. "I think you need help. You don't even want to do my homework with me, and you expect to raise my nieces?"

"And nephew," he growled.

"Fine, you can raise that one." she wrinkled her nose. "But for real. If you aren't even going to try to help me with math, you have to do something else."

"Why?" he asked, irritation lacing his voice.

"Because you're _old._ Old people always have something good to say. Tell me a story or something so I don't completely die of boredom."

He rolled his eyes. "Do you get this from Ria?"

"Get what?"

"The constant talking."

"She doesn't talk that much. Well, she talks more than you do." she looked around. "Where is she, anyway?"

"With the runt." he grunted. "Restin'."

"That's all she does now." Ellen peered at the remnants of Victor's last helping of dinner. "What's that?"

"Beef and potatoes."

"Can I have it?"

He looked at her dangerously. "Excuse me?"

"Can I have your leftovers?"

"You askin' your alpha for his _leftovers?_ "

"You're not my alpha," she argued. "People don't have alphas."

"I ain't a human, and neither are you." he growled. "And besides...humans have kings. They elect presidents. It's all the same thing, kid, just with fancier names."

"But...it's different," she folded her arms over her chest. "People aren't just animals. They don't just listen to the meanest guy."

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't they? Either way, yer part of the family. That means you listen to _me._ "

Ellen rested her chin on her hand. "Well...I guess it can't be that bad, right?"

Victor considered her for a moment. Ellen was starting to grow out of the church girl routine, it seemed, and honestly, he was glad. He didn't know how he was supposed to stand the way she sometimes just _reeked_ of private school naivety. Now, though, after just a short while with all the little mutant kids at Xavier's, her horizons were broadening. It was a relief to see her growing up and acting more like someone who belonged in his family.

The sass she liked to give him, though...he could do without that.

"I'll keep you safe, kid." Victor grunted.

"Yeah, you'd better. Otherwise Ria'll _kill_ you."

He rolled his eyes. There it was. The fucking _sass._

"So...you helping with math, or you telling a story?" she shoved her textbook forward. "Because I really do have to finish this, and I really do need your help with it."

He groaned and put his head in his hands. "Fine. Let's find x."

-0-

"I can't do this," Ria sank down onto the bed.

Logan looked up from his place across the room. "Mmh?"

With both hands on her swollen belly, Ria met the male's gaze. "This. Any of this."

"You can have 'em, Ria."

"No, I can't!" she snapped, eyes brimming with tears. "I'm not even that close to the end and I'm already fucking _miserable…"_

Logan sighed. He really wasn't equipped for this. When he had agreed to sit with Ria and keep an eye on her for his brother, he didn't realize that it was going to mean a lot of crying about things he wasn't prepared for. Honestly, how much did he know about pregnant ladies? Not that much. He just knew that this particular one was very, very upset, and he had to figure out how to make her happy again before Victor barreled through the door to tear his ribs out.

"My feet hurt," she said, not needing any conversational prompts. "My back hurts...everything hurts. And I'm fucking _huge,_ Jimmy! I'm _huge._ How fucking big do I have to get?"

"Yer only this big 'cause there's three cubs."

"So?"

"If you were smaller, it'd be bad." he stood from his chair and crossed the room to sit next to her. "Yer glowin', Ria."

She let out a long breath. "I knew this was going to be hard. I'm not stupid. I probably sound like an idiot, but I know how pregnancy and all this works." she looked down at her hands. "I helped a lot of girls when they were pregnant. I even helped with a couple births back in the day. You know, before anybody went to the hospital." she let out a little laugh. "God, I sound old. It's just...so different to actually be the one doing it."

"Glad somebody knows how it works, then." Logan grumbled.

"You guys never knew anybody with a bun in the oven?" Ria asked, finally wiping her eyes, smearing her already smudged mascara.

"We were in the service. Just fought in wars. Ain't much time for babies on the front lines." he motioned for her to turn toward him and went to work on fixing her makeup, wiping it away with his thumb. When Victor inevitably came thundering in, he would rather see a Ria that looked like she was being taken care of than one with makeup running down her face.

"Kinda funny how that works." Ria said. "So much killing, and now it's the opposite. Sorry. That was cheesy."

"Yeah, well. Not like Victor's ever gonna stop killin'. Enjoy it while you can."

She furrowed her brow. "He does what he has to."

"He does what he wants. Nobody can ever tell him what to do for very long. Only reason it worked in the army was he got to do enough killin' that it kept him satisfied." Logan sat back, pleased with his work. Her eyes were still puffy, but at least her makeup was better.

Ria looked at the man she was beginning to consider her brother in law. "I know what he is, Jimmy. I knew from the moment I met him."

"He's-"

"Brutal. Savage. I know." her amber eyes were trained on his face. "He trusts the sabretooth, just like I trust the leopard. What do you trust?"

Logan narrowed his eyes. "Myself."

"You've got those big nasty claws, and you won't even let the wolverine out to play with them once in awhile?"

His jaw tensed. "I ain't my brother. I ain't a killer anymore."

Ria rolled her eyes, her previous mopey mood seeming to have completely left now that she was presented with his challenge. "I doubt that."

She saw his nostrils flare. "You don't know me, frail."

"And you don't know _me,_ runt."

He let out a snarl and she sat back, satisfied. "You're a fuckin' pest, that's what you are." he growled when he saw her little smirk. "An' your cubs will all be pests, too."

"Can't wait for them to meet their grouchy Uncle Jimmy," she grinned.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't push me like you push him."

"I don't push him," she argued as Logan stood up.

"Whatever you say." he grumbled. "Count yerself lucky that he won't push back."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

He shrugged as he poured himself a glass of whiskey from the bottle Victor had been keeping on the small dresser in the corner. "My brother's a big, mean guy. I've never seen him let anybody push him around the way you do."

Ria couldn't help but smile at that. "Yeah, well. That's what happens when you big tough guys try to mess with girls like me."

"Get so annoyed we die?"

She gave him a dark look. "Keep that up and I'm telling Victor you've been in his alcohol stash. Which, by the way, rude of you for teasing me with that when I can't drink."

Logan rolled his eyes and downed his glass. "Nice try. He's too focused on keepin' you happy to care about it."

"Yeah, well." she huffed, knowing he was right. Then she sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. "I'm hungry again. Escort me to the kitchen?"

With a little smile he hoped she didn't see, Logan gave a nod and put his glass down. He had to admit, keeping an eye on Ria wasn't the worst job he had ever had, and while he wasn't as protective of her as Victor was, knowing that she was safe and sound gave him a calming feeling. When she was out of his sight, he was always a little worried, concern for his unborn nieces and nephew tugging at the back of his mind. He had never imagined that he would be back in a family situation with Victor, and yet here he was, closer than ever and actually _not_ fighting with his brother that much. Past the occasional squabble, they were getting along incredibly well, and he was realizing now how much he had missed his older sibling.

Ria, who was already having to resort to a slight waddle, led him out of the room and towards the kitchen. As the two approached, a tense, stressful air settled, and they gave each other a confused glance before Ria pushed the door open to find a snarly Victor and a grumbly Ellen. Ellen's math textbook was sitting open in the middle of the table, a few large gashes running through it. A few broken pencils were scattered around the mostly-empty dishes, and the longer Ria looked at the scene before her, the more confused she got.

"What the hell is going on?" Ria snapped.

"These goddamn math problems're _ridiculous,"_ Victor snarled.

Ellen was holding her head like it hurt. "See? See _why_ I asked you for help?"

"You asked a guy who ain't been to school since before the Civil War!"

"I figured you're so _old_ you would know!"

Logan leaned against the door frame, an amused smirk on his face. Was this Victor's best attempt at being a helpful family man?

Ria stomped forward, pulled a chair out, and plopped herself down in it. "Jimmy, get me some food. Somebody give me a pencil. We're solving this shit, _without_ ripping out anymore pages."


End file.
